[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7251-7258]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CBC HOUR: HIGHER EDUCATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members

[[Page 7252]]

be given 5 days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor and a privilege to once 
again have this opportunity to anchor the CBC Special Order along with 
my very distinguished colleague, my good friend from the Silver State, 
Representative Steven Horsford, where for the next 60 minutes during 
this hour of power, members of the Congressional Black Caucus will have 
an opportunity to speak directly to the American people about the 
issues facing higher education here in America.
  We are at a crisis moment as it relates to our capacity to make sure 
that we can provide an affordable college education to as many 
Americans as possible. The problem that we in this country confront is 
twofold. First, the cost of a college education keeps going up, but the 
amount of financial aid available to younger Americans keeps coming 
down. As a result, higher education is increasingly out of reach, 
particularly for low-income Americans or working families or the sons 
and daughters of the middle class.
  A college education is a pathway to the American Dream. The fact that 
it's increasingly out of reach is incredibly problematic for this great 
country. Compounding that fact secondarily is the reality that the 
amount of student loan debt for younger Americans has increased 
exponentially. If the Congress does not act in advance of July 1, then 
the interest rate for federally subsidized student loans will double in 
its amount. It will increase from its current rate of 3.4 percent to 
6.8 percent. This increase will impact more than 7 million younger 
Americans. It's a crisis that we must confront.
  The CBC today will lay out a vision for how we can deal with the 
immediate crisis that we confront that's approaching as we march toward 
July 1, as well as ideas for tackling the broader issue of college 
affordability. Many of our members will also lay out the problems with 
the GOP approach as represented in H.R. 1911, which will only make the 
problem worse--not better.
  We're pleased that so many of my distinguished colleagues have joined 
us today to participate in this Special Order. To get us started is our 
eloquent and dynamic leader, the chairperson of the Congressional Black 
Caucus, Representative Marcia Fudge.
  Ms. FUDGE. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to thank my 
colleagues, Congressman Jeffries and Congressman Horsford, for once 
again leading the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order. I cannot 
think of a more timely topic for today's Special Order as once again 
our youth are facing a student loan crisis.
  Mr. Speaker, George Washington Carver once said, ``Education is the 
key to unlock the golden door of freedom.'' Nowhere is this truer in 
this country, where we know for a fact that access to a quality 
education is the ladder to a better and richer tomorrow. Providing 
access to education is in America's very DNA, and it goes back to when 
two of our Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, 
established State universities.
  This tradition continued in 1862 when President Lincoln signed the 
Morrill Land-Grant Acts to create land-grant colleges, an effort to 
promote higher education for working class citizens. Nearly 100 years 
later, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Higher Education Act of 
1965, and thus the Pell Grant was created.
  Today, an affordable college education is more important than ever in 
this country's history. In the next decade, 63 percent of all jobs will 
require at least some post-secondary education. And in order to compete 
for jobs in the future, our children must be equipped and not saddled 
with debt. Congress has a duty to ensure that Federal education 
assistance is both affordable and accessible.
  On July 1, if Congress does not act, rates for college students 
taking out subsidized Department of Education loans are scheduled to 
double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, 
this week the House, the place affectionately referred to as the 
``people's House''--believe it or not--will consider a bill that would 
do more harm than good.

                              {time}  2030

  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle will bring the so-called 
Smarter Solutions for Students Act to the House floor. This bill is not 
a smart solution. In fact, it is not a solution at all. It actually 
makes it more expensive for students and parents than if Congress did 
nothing and let the interest rates just double.
  To be clear, I want to ensure Americans know exactly what Republicans 
are proposing. The Congressional Budget Office found that this bill 
will cost students and parents $3.7 billion in additional student loan 
interest, and those charges will be over a 10-year period. So why 
propose such a bill? Why would Members of Congress in the people's 
House claim this is a good bill? Believe it or not, this legislation is 
an attempt to move closer to a balanced budget on the backs of college 
students. The true purpose of this legislation is to squeeze out 
revenue to pay down the Federal debt.
  Yes, we will vote on a bill this week that seeks to decrease the 
Federal deficit on the backs of a generation already being called 
``generation jobless.'' Yet, still no jobs bill. This legislation 
totally ignores the fact that student loan delinquency and default 
rates are already exceedingly high. Due to the recession and 
unemployment, nearly 20 percent of student loan borrowers were 90 days 
or more behind in payments at the end of 2012. So why increase it more?
  In addition to the student loan crisis, I have to mention the 
Department of Education PLUS loan crisis, another crisis that is 
breathing down the backs of college students. Over the last few years, 
thousands of students have been sent home from college because their 
PLUS loans were denied after the student year commenced. HBCUs have 
lost millions in revenue.
  The CBC recently met with Secretary Duncan and requested that the 
Department reverse course to stop the bleeding. As a result, the 
Department is sending out notifications in an effort to get students 
back into school, and hearings will be held around the country this 
month and next month.
  College presidents, students, and parents must speak up and demand a 
change. The CBC will continue to push back and speak out as the future 
of student loan programs are debated. We will not stand by and watch 
Congress or the Department of Education hurt our students' chances at a 
better tomorrow. Not on our watch.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank you, Chairwoman Fudge, for so eloquently laying 
out both the history in this great country of investing in higher 
education, whether it is the private school context or in the public 
school context, but making sure consistently that our young people are 
prepared for the challenges of the modern day economy, which will 
increasingly require a college degree, if not a graduate degree and 
significant training. That is why we at the CBC feel it is important to 
make sure that we make college more affordable, not less affordable, as 
the GOP proposal would do.
  We have also been joined by a very distinguished colleague from the 
Lone Star State who has been a tremendous champion on this issue and on 
many others in the Congress, and so I now yield to Representative 
Sheila Jackson Lee from the great city of Houston.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Allow me to thank both of my very good friends, the 
gentleman from New York and the gentleman from Nevada, for really 
answering the call of the First Amendment. The First Amendment 
guarantees the freedom of speech, but I think the most important part 
of speech is information. Thank you for the opportunity to share with 
our colleagues and share with America the pending crisis.
  If I might just quote from an article in the Houston Chronicle by a 
writer in the early part of February, Mike Tolson, that said:

       Like a hurricane churning across the Gulf of Mexico, the 
     looming Federal sequestration threatens everything in its 
     path. If the

[[Page 7253]]

     deep and automatic Federal budget cuts actually take place, 
     there will be damage somewhere--perhaps a lot of somewheres.

  So today we're standing on the floor of the House embracing some of 
the historic comments as relates to the African American community and 
other minority communities about the value of education. How many of us 
have been told by our parents that it was the door, the key, to 
opportunities? How many of us recognized it by listening to the words 
of Dr. Benjamin Mays, who was a leading voice at Morehouse and an 
educator, who always spoke of the slaves rising from the ashes, to be 
educated, to do good? And the debate between Booker T. Washington and 
W.E.B. DuBois. It was a question of The Talented Tenth, but it was also 
a question of those who could pull their buckets up where they stand, 
to be artisans, carpenters, painters, and others. But it was to learn 
something, to be educated.
  Today I stand sadly on this floor, Mr. Jeffries, and acknowledge that 
as I speak, one of my boards is having a meeting. They are a school 
district, not higher education as we talk about tonight, but it plays 
into this because there is a siege upon education in America. That 
board and that community, the North Forest Independent School District, 
is fighting with every breath in their body to keep from closing after 
they've succeeded in reaching all of the goals that were given to them 
by the Texas education agency. But our Governor, Governor Rick Perry, 
is opposed to their survival. Our commissioner, Commissioner Michael 
Williams, is opposed to their survival. And as well, what a contrast, 
when just a few days ago he saved another school district, not African 
American, with the same proposal North Forest has.
  So I stand on the floor today to join you and acknowledge: is the 
siege continuing? It seems to be, because right now our friends, our 
Republican friends, this House, refuses to have a conference on the 
budget. A conference on the budget might put us in a better position 
than what we will be doing today, H.R. 1911. It might put us in a 
better position than what the Department of Education, unfortunately, 
has had to do with the reconfiguration on the parent PLUS loans.
  I ask why the budget conference has not been called? Why are we on 
the backs of people who are suffering and who want to get an education? 
Why are we on the backs of those, like in north Texas, who are 
suffering from tornadoes or the disaster today, where we don't know how 
many lives have been lost? Why are we suffering? Why don't we have a 
budget conference? Why are we suffering when we recognize how much 
education provides? I thank you, Mr. Horsford, for this initiative to 
show what it means to get an education. This is what our parents told 
us.
  Less than a high school diploma, weekly earnings $451; high school 
diploma or GED--and I spoke to a group that got a GED, $638, 
congratulations to them. A bachelor's degree, $1,053. And a 
professional degree, $1,655.
  This is a 2012 document, and I just want to call out these numbers of 
unemployment. They're higher when you don't have a high school 
education, almost 15 percent and growing; 10 percent for a high school 
education; and of course the numbers go down.
  So it is of great concern that we now are facing legislation that is 
going to take the fat--oh, let me just stop and say that. Somebody says 
fat, they say: Oh, yeah, we want to take the fat out. That is going to 
go to the bone of individuals who are simply trying to get an 
education.
  Sequestration is cutting NASA. It is cutting education programs. I 
just met some people on an airplane who said that all my programs from 
Rice University in science have been wiped out because of 
sequestration. Now my friends want to bring H.R. 1911, rather than 
listening to what we can do here today.
  I introduced H.R. 900 with John Conyers and a number of other Members 
who said, let's end sequestration. If we end sequestration, we wouldn't 
have to bring up H.R. 1911.
  Let me just say these few words as I discuss these boards very 
quickly. Right now it is noted that student borrowing is widespread, 
and more than $100 billion in Federal education loans are distributed 
every year. What that means is that is the debt we are putting on the 
children of America. A historically black college like Texas Southern 
University in Houston, 81 percent of the students receive some form of 
student assistance. They received $85 million in student financial aid. 
In terms of student loan debt, 92 percent of those students are African 
Americans; 85 percent are Hispanic students--this is overall--and 85 
percent are Native Americans students; 82 percent are multiracial 
students; and 77 percent are white students.

                              {time}  2040

  Last year I introduced the College Literacy Finance and Economics Act 
of 2011 to help our students manage their debt; but now we find 
ourselves facing an uphill battle, and that is the introduction of this 
legislation that I believe is probably the worst that we could ever 
have. Let me explain it to you and see what H.R. 1911 does.
  We're right now at 3.4 percent. That looks like it's reasonable. If 
this bill passes this week, by July 1, we will be up to 6.8 percent--
excuse me. By July 1, if we don't do anything, we'll be 6.8 percent, 
$8,880 in interest to be paid. But if we pass H.R. 1911, we'll be at 
$10,109 in interest. Isn't this a disgrace, a shame on a Nation that 
encourages our young people, whether they go in business or not, to get 
an education?
  And then as Mr. Jeffries mentioned, the Congressional Black Caucus 
has taken on the burden of a horrific burden that has been put on our 
parents, something called Parent Plus. In fact, I was looking at the 
numbers from Texas Southern University, who said they lost 450 
students--and they don't know if they've got all the numbers--because 
the Parent Plus loan program caused students to drop out by the 
thousands across America. By the thousands.
  I want to thank the Congressional Black Caucus and our chairwoman, 
Chairwoman Fudge, for waking up this issue, along with our members on 
the Education Committee from the Congressional Black Caucus, because 
this is what is happening under the Parent Plus program.
  Already bad under current law, in terms of the interest paid, 
$27,956. But look what will happen under H.R. 1911. It would force 
parents to pay 28 percent more on their loan, $35,848.
  A debt on parents is a debt on the children. If the parents got ill, 
if the parents lost their jobs, if the parents had other children to 
take care of, and that one student that they invested in and they 
loved, trying to get the others to come up behind them, parents meaning 
well, doing well, and you're going to burden them with this burden on 
top of that, the student that is trying to increase their income.
  So I would simply say that we're facing tragedy in our country with 
bad weather, but we're facing a tsunami of disaster on the floor of the 
House with the lack of a budget, with a sequester that is now getting 
into the seams of our life by causing enormous debt and legislative 
initiatives that are unwise and devastating.
  And so I'd ask today that we move on the budget conference. And I ask 
the Speaker to bring up H.R. 900, a simple sentence. It says: to remove 
the sequestration from the 2011 Budget Act and go back to regular 
order.
  Many of us are looking at amendments offered by the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney), whose legislation we supported last year. 
But we want anything but this devastating bill that is going to snatch 
the opportunity and the dignity of education from those who are trying.
  I close on the remarks of President Obama as he spoke to the historic 
Morehouse College this past Sunday, thank him for visiting with those 
young men. And he talked about a young man who had a rough upbringing, 
a difficult upbringing, and he congratulated that young man because 
that young man had now graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse College 
and is going on to Harvard Law School.
  I can assure you that that young man had his own sticktoitiveness, 
but also that the young men in those colleges

[[Page 7254]]

like Morehouse have loans and depend upon financial aid, generally 
speaking.
  And so what Mr. Obama conveyed to those young men, that the sky is 
the limit, that there should be no obstacles in front of you; don't 
blame anyone else; keep climbing up the ladder.
  And we stand here on the floor this week to snatch the very promise 
of education out of the hands of those students, no matter what race 
they are, snatch it out of their hands with a devastating, crafty, 
expensive, trickery such as H.R. 1911.
  I pray, as I go to my seat, I pray that wisdom will take charge, and 
that Members of Congress will come together and defeat H.R. 1911 and 
put on the floor of the House the legislation that has been offered by 
many on this side of the aisle, to be able to ensure that those 
individuals, parents and children, continue to claim the American Dream 
no matter where you walk from, no matter what story you have to tell, 
no matter what your racial or ethnic background is.
  I'm glad that the CBC is standing here today to tell our story and to 
speak for America. I thank the gentleman for his courtesy.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlelady from the great 
State of Texas for laying out in very clear terms the two different 
visions that exist here in the House of Representatives as it relates 
to how to deal with access to higher education. The CBC vision is a 
clear one. We want to increase opportunity to a college degree because 
we recognize that it's a great way to the American Dream. The other 
side, unfortunately, has put forth a plan that will help snatch that 
opportunity away, make it more expensive, increase the debt burden.
  And unfortunately, this one particular issue, as it relates to the 
student loan dynamic, fits within a broader dichotomy as to how we 
approach dealing with the problems in America. We believe in a balanced 
approach that invests in America and education and prepares our young 
people for the challenges of the 21st century economy. But the other 
side seems to have taken the approach that they're going to balance the 
budget on the backs of the most vulnerable here in America, and that 
includes young people who are trying to pursue a college education.
  That's what their budget proposal says. Take away $168 billion in 
higher education funding, and then, at the same time, when, on July 1, 
student loan rates may double, put forth a bill that has been 
articulated to have made the problem worse if, in fact, it is ever 
enacted into law.
  We're pleased that we've been joined, once again by my distinguished 
coanchor, Steven Horsford, who represents the great State of Nevada, 
and so I now yield to my good friend, Congressman Horsford.
  Mr. HORSFORD. To the coanchor, to my friend and colleague, the 
gentleman from New York, Representative Jeffries, I appreciate your 
leadership and the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus in 
focusing this hour on such an important issue as the cost, the 
increasing cost of attending higher education in this country.
  You know, Mr. Speaker, this week, graduations are being held across 
the country. Families are celebrating the achievement of students who 
have worked hard for the last 4 years or more to earn their degree. So 
I find it ironic that on this week when Americans are celebrating the 
achievement of students who have worked so hard that my colleagues on 
the other side would propose such a hypocritical piece of legislation 
as H.R. 1911.
  H.R. 1911 is nothing but a bait-and-switch scheme that makes 
attending college more expensive. Can you imagine that? Proposing a 
piece of legislation that costs the American people more to go to 
college? People are already struggling to go to college as it is.
  According to the CBO estimates, Federal student interest rates will 
be higher than current fixed rates for millions of borrowers. That 
means that if you're financing your college now, it's likely you will 
be paying more once you graduate under the Republican plan than you 
would today.
  H.R. 1911 makes student loan interest rates change year to year, 
based on the 10-year Treasury note marked up by 2.5 percent to 4.5 
percent. So to be plain, when next year's freshmen graduate and start 
having to repay their loans in 2017, their interest rate on that loan 
taken out in their freshman year is projected to be 7.4 percent, more 
than double today's current 3.4 percent rate for subsidized Stafford 
loans.

                              {time}  2050

  For a freshman starting college this fall who borrows the maximum 
annual loan under the Department of Education, their subsidized and 
unsubsidized loan programs, they will pay about $2,000 more in interest 
under H.R. 1911.
  Now, why is this so appalling? We recently learned that this year 
alone the Department of Education is expected to make $51 billion in 
profit off students financing their education. Some of you may ask, How 
is it that the Department of Education is making a $51 billion profit 
when American families and students are struggling to even pay the 
tuition costs that they have? We teach our children that it's important 
to save, to be responsible with their money, and to get a good 
education. But with the system set up the way it is right now, those 
goals are mutually exclusive.
  How are students supposed to save? When will they be able to pay off 
a record $1.1 trillion in debt that they are saddled with now? It was 
just reported that there is more debt on student loans than there are 
credit card payments in America. How do they begin to consider to plan 
their lives, to prepare to buy a home, when they're trapped under a 
mountain of debt?
  I have students that come to me when we have Congress on our college 
campuses and they express great fear and trepidation about their 
future. They're working so hard. I have single parents who are 
literally taking every dollar from the two jobs that they work to be 
able to afford their college tuition. I cannot go back to them and tell 
them that my colleagues on the other side propose a bill that makes the 
college costs for their loans double. It's unacceptable. It's 
unacceptable when companies like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, 
Citigroup, and Wells Fargo reported a combined profit of $51.9 billion 
and the Department of Education has the same amount of profit as those 
four companies combined.
  And so, Mr. Speaker, my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, 
I have got to say that we've got to tackle H.R. 1911. We have to figure 
out a way to come up with amendments to keep the interest rates on 
college loans at 3.4 percent, as they are now, or to ensure that 
they're capped at a level that is predictable for students. But we also 
have to address this other underlying issue. It is not fair to American 
students that they are working harder and harder, that their families 
are struggling; and yet there's a billion-dollar profit that's going to 
the Department of Education. There's a $51 billion profit that comes 
back and goes to the Treasury to pay down the debt, and yet 
corporations continue to get tax incentives and corporate subsidies.
  Enough is enough, Mr. Speaker. Enough is enough. When are we going to 
require major corporations to do their part? Enough is enough. College 
students in America have worked too hard. Families have struggled for 
too long. The hope of a college education that so many people strive 
for is costing more and more, and now my colleagues on the other side 
want it to cost even more. And so we're here tonight to say, no, that 
is not going to happen. Not on our watch. And we're going to fight and 
work hard until it does not.
  I've got two questions to my colleague, and then I'm going to yield 
back. I tweeted out #CBCTalks and I asked constituents to send in a 
question or two that I could respond to. I was asked by a constituent, 
David Webb, a counselor, Wouldn't increasing the student loan interest 
rate discourage minorities' ability to go to college? Absolutely. The 
answer to that is yes. If the cost to attend college and take out loans 
for college will double--it's

[[Page 7255]]

already too high now--too many students are foregoing their chance to 
get a college education because they can't afford it. This will just 
make it worse.
  I was also asked by a constituent, Troy Amaro, if H.R. 1330 is passed 
by using the 10-10 scenario, what happens to the rest of the debt that 
is unpaid? I want to thank him for his question. I know we are working 
on the Student Loan Fairness Act, which offers a 10-10 repayment plan 
that would require borrowers to make 10 years of payment on their 
Federal student loans at a 10 percent rate of their discretionary 
income. And then once that period is done, the loan would be forgiven.
  Those are the types of solutions that we need to be working on so 
that college can be more affordable for the American student and the 
American family. And to my coanchor and to the members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, I'm hopeful that we will continue to raise 
our voice on this issue and to make it clear that the proposal by our 
colleagues on the other side, H.R. 1991, is not a solution. It is 
costing the American people more for college at a time when they can 
least afford it.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman for raising some 
very eloquent points and doing it in such a thoughtful and passionate 
way. These are solutions, Mr. Speaker, that we really should be 
discussing in the context of a conference committee to come to some 
resolution around the budget.
  For about 4 years, Members of the other side of the aisle were 
complaining about the absence of regular order, but this year we passed 
a budget in the House of Representatives in March. The Senate then 
passed their budget plan in the same month. The President came back in 
April, after we got back from recess, and presented his budget. The 
next step in regular order, which the House GOP has been asking for for 
4 years, would be to appoint conferees so the Senate and the House can 
sit down and work it out and discuss some of the solutions that 
Representative Horsford and other Representatives of the American 
people have put forth to deal with our economic situation, make higher 
education more affordable, and provide businesses with the certainty 
that they need.
  And so the question is, What is the House GOP afraid of? Why haven't 
you appointed conferees so we can sit down and have a discussion to 
work out the issues and the problems that are confronting the American 
people?
  We've been joined by another distinguished member of the freshman 
class, one of the newest Members of the House of Representatives, 
Representative Robin Kelly from the great State of Illinois.
  Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Thank you for your leadership, Congressman 
Jeffries.
  This weekend, three students very close to me celebrated their 
college graduations: Brace Clement at the University of Wisconsin, 
Amelia Lumpkin at Davidson College, and Whitney Horn at the Illinois 
Institute of Technology. These three young people represent the best 
and brightest this country has to offer.

                              {time}  2100

  Congratulations Brace, Amelia, and Whitney. I am extremely proud of 
you. They are just three of the thousands of students across the 
country who celebrated their college graduations this weekend. It's a 
joyous time, but for some it's also a nervous time because more 
students than ever are walking across the stage weighed down by student 
loan debt.
  The cost of a college degree has increased by more than 1,000 percent 
in the last 30 years, according to a report by the Center for American 
Progress. Two-thirds of students who earn 4-year degrees graduate with 
an average student loan debt of more than $25,000, according to the 
report. Today, 37 million students are facing student loan debt, and 
the total student loan debt burden tops $1.1 trillion.
  The mounting student debt is stunting the growth of a generation of 
graduates who are facing a tough job market and high student loan 
payments, or putting off key milestones, such as buying a house or 
starting a family, which further stifles the country's economic 
recovery.
  The problem is most acute among students of color, with 81 percent of 
African American students graduating in debt compared to 64 percent of 
White students. And not only are more Black students graduating with 
debt, they are graduating with higher levels of debt. According to the 
report, 27 percent of Black bachelor degree recipients have more than 
$30,000 in debt, compared to 16 percent of their White counterparts. It 
is against this backdrop that student loan rates are set to double on 
July 1.
  A Republican bill being considered this week would have student loan 
interest rates change year to year, based on a 10-year Treasury note, a 
move that could push rates as high as 7.4 percent. This is 
unacceptable.
  Raising interest rates on student loans will be pricing our students 
out of the American Dream. At a time when a college degree is more 
vital than ever to national and global competitiveness, we will be 
putting the goals of attaining a degree further out of reach of our 
young people, particularly young people of color.
  Our students, many of whom have graduated to find themselves 
unemployed or underemployed, are already struggling to pay back loans 
at the current rate level and are facing years--and, in some cases, 
decades--of loan payments ahead. Raising the rates on students who are 
already struggling to make ends meet is just wrong, counterproductive, 
and will have a chilling effect on future generations of students who 
will be forced to forego an education due to skyrocketing costs. We 
should be opening more avenues to a college education for young people, 
not slamming the door shut in their faces.
  I agree with my colleagues that a two-step approach is needed to 
address the student loan crisis. We should first freeze the current 
rate, 3.4 percent, on subsidized Stafford loans for the next 2 years 
and keep other educational loan rates steady to remove the immediate 
fear of students and their families of the impending rate increase. We 
should then investigate longer-term solutions to the student loan 
problem as part of a comprehensive approach to addressing our Nation's 
mounting student debt, escalating college costs, and broken financial 
aid system as a whole.
  In investigating options for increasing college affordability, I 
agree with the notion that we should, at the very least, be open to 
giving our students the same interest rates we extend to banks. Our 
young people deserve the same backing and support. It is not only the 
right thing to do, but the investment in our students will net a much 
bigger payoff for our Nation for generations to come.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the gentlelady for her very insightful 
comments.
  You know, it's interesting, as Representative Kelly pointed out, when 
the economy collapsed in 2008, it created a situation where many 
younger Americans entered into the job market and confronted increased 
difficulty in securing employment in their area of study or in any 
other area of study. So it doesn't make a lot of sense to many of us 
that, as we still continue to deal with a fragile economic recovery, 
why in the world would we shoulder these young Americans with an 
increased student loan debt burden in the face of an already difficult 
job market? That's a question that our friends on the other side of the 
aisle are going to have to answer this week, and I don't think that the 
American people will like what they have to say in that regard.
  We're pleased that we've been joined by the very distinguished 
gentleman from the great State of Virginia, someone who has spearheaded 
the CBC effort as it relates to our compassionate and strong and 
responsible budget. I'm pleased to yield to Representative Bobby Scott.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding time, and I 
thank him for holding this important Special Order as we talk about 
college education and making it affordable.
  We know that a college education is extremely important to young 
people. It can transform their entire lives and

[[Page 7256]]

open opportunities that are not available to those without a college 
education.
  We know that the good jobs require education. Ninety percent of the 
good-paying jobs in the future will require education past the high 
school level--and not necessarily a 4-year college, but some education 
and training past the high school level. Of course, that would include 
college. There's an old adage that the more you learn, the more you 
earn; the more education you get, the more likely you are to have a 
much higher income.
  Now, we know that the benefits of a decent education not only accrue 
to the individual, but also to the community; because those communities 
that have a well-educated constituency are much less likely to have to 
suffer as much crime or pay as much for social services as those 
communities that do not invest in education.
  And our national economic competitiveness depends on an educated 
workforce. We're not going to be able to compete, for example, on low 
wages if people around the world will work for much lower wages. You 
don't have to be near your customers or even near your coworkers 
anymore. We've got delivery. You can deliver things all over the world. 
And if you can work across the hall from your coworkers, you can work 
across the globe from your coworkers with a computer and a modem and 
the Internet and everything else.
  The reason that businesses want to locate in the United States is 
because they know they can get a well-educated, well-trained workforce. 
And if we allow people to fail to reach their full potential, we will 
not be achieving our full economic competitiveness.
  So we know the benefits of education, particularly a college 
education. And we know that some young people are looking at the high 
interest rates and the cost of education and are calculating that it's 
not worth it. There can be nothing worse for our Nation than to have 
young people fail to achieve their full potential because they cannot 
afford a college education.
  Several years ago, in 2007, Congress passed a cut in the interest 
rate on student loans to make college more affordable, cutting the 
interest rate in half, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, for 5 years. At 
the end of 5 years, last year, we extended it for another year; but on 
July 1, in just a few weeks, that interest rate will double back to 6.8 
percent if we don't do anything.
  Last week, the Education and Workforce Committee considered 
legislation to deal with the interest rate. Unfortunately, the bill 
recommended by the Republican side of the aisle was actually so bad 
that, according to the Congressional Research Service, students would 
actually be better off if we just did nothing and let the interest rate 
double to 6.8 percent rather than take that variable interest rate that 
they had, with the extra fees and everything else along with it. We 
would be better off if we just let the interest rate double.
  You're asking young people to sign up for a variable interest rate. 
When they sign up, they have no idea what the interest rate will be 
later on; but the Congressional Research Service said, based on 
projections, that they would be better off with the 6.8 percent rate 
than what they're going to end up with under the Republican bill.
  What we should do is protect the present 3.4 percent interest rate 
for students. It's reasonable, and it makes college much more 
affordable. Or, if you're going to have a variable interest rate, have 
it at a low rate similar to what we're charging businesses and what 
they're able to borrow money at, with the protection against increases 
so you're no worse off with the legislation than you are today.
  We can help students afford college, but not with the bill that the 
Education and Workforce Committee considered because that's actually 
worse than just letting the interest rate double.
  We owe it to our young people, we owe it to our next generation, and 
we owe it to our Nation to make sure that our students get the best 
education that they can, and making college affordable is part of that 
challenge. We need to make college affordable, and we need to make sure 
we defeat the bill that was reported by the Education and Workforce 
Committee because that's actually worse than doing nothing.
  Again, I thank you for holding the Special Order and doing what we 
can to make college affordable.

                              {time}  2110

  Mr. JEFFRIES. Thank you so much, Representative Scott, certainly for 
your eloquent and thoughtful observations, and for pointing out what 
really is a very interesting fact as it relates to what we're doing 
here in Washington, D.C., this week. If we just simply did nothing, if 
we all went back to our districts and didn't act in advance of the 
student loan rate doubling on July 1, that we would actually be better 
off going back home and doing nothing than if we acted upon the GOP 
proposal, H.R. 1911, which independently and objectively has been 
proven to show that it would make the situation, which is bad, now 
worse for millions and millions and millions of American students. 
That's why so many of our constituents are cynical about a lot of the 
things that happen down here in Washington, D.C.
  We've been joined by another distinguished member of the freshman 
class, someone who herself had a very prominent career prior to 
arriving here in the House of Representatives in higher education, as 
well as a leader in the Ohio legislature.
  I'm pleased to yield now to the distinguished gentlelady from Ohio, 
Representative Joyce Beatty.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, let me also join my colleagues in thanking 
Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Horsford for leading the Congressional Black 
Caucus' important discussion about rising burdens of student loans on 
our families and on our economy.
  Higher education is a major part of the American Dream. I know as a 
college graduate and I know as a senior administrator at a university, 
access to higher education must continue to be an option for the 
American Dream to continue to be a reality.
  The increasing financial burden higher education is placing on 
students, families, and the economy is unsustainable and threatens our 
country's economic progress. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of 
New York, almost 13 percent of student loan borrowers of all ages owe 
more than $50,000, and nearly 4 percent owe more than $100,000. These 
debts are often beyond the students' ability to repay, which is 
demonstrated by the fact that delinquency and default rates are 
soaring.
  This week, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act, H.R. 1911, will 
come to the floor. Unfortunately, it is partisan legislation and is not 
a sufficient solution to address our Nation's student loan crisis; and 
it is certainly worth repeating, as you have heard and you will 
repeatedly hear. In fact, it makes students worse off than if nothing 
is done to stop the increasing variable interest rates.
  This bill actually would increase the cost of student loans for 
borrowers, discourage the use of Federal loans, and exacerbate the 
country's troubling student debt problem. Under this bill, interest 
rates for student loans will balloon over the next 10 years, costing 
students and their parents almost $4 billion in additional loan 
interest charges.
  As a former college administrator with numerous colleges in my 
district, I believe pursuing higher education is one of the best 
personal and professional investments one can make in your future. With 
the tens of thousands of students within my district, the impact of the 
student loan crisis is monumental for my community.
  That is why I have cosponsored several pieces of legislation that 
will work to decrease the fiscal strain higher education can place on 
students. I've cosponsored the Student Loan Fairness Act, sponsored by 
Representative Bass, which is legislation designed to lend a helping 
hand to those struggling under massive amounts of student loans. This 
legislation actually caps interest rates for Federal loans and improves 
and expands public service loan forgiveness and creates a 10-10 loan 
repayment plan.

[[Page 7257]]

  We must--we must keep our education loan rates stable, responsible, 
and affordable. We must find a solution that will allow college 
students to benefit from the 3.4 percent interest rates on subsidized 
Stafford loans. We must advance legislation that includes student loan 
reform in a way that provides realistic opportunities for our students 
to secure good jobs and pay off their student loans without falling 
into financial crisis.
  I will continue to advocate for better ways to lessen the financial 
burden of higher education for all students in this country. Our 
Nation's students and families deserve an affordable education.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlelady from Ohio for her 
great leadership on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, would you be so kind as to let us know how many minutes 
are remaining in today's Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 9 minutes remaining.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  We've been joined now by another dynamic member of the freshman 
class, who arrived a couple of months earlier than the rest of us. He 
has gotten off to a tremendous start. I now yield to my distinguished 
colleague from the Garden State, the always nattily dressed 
Representative Donald Payne, Jr.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues for anchoring 
tonight's CBC Special Order on student loans and thank Congressman 
Jeffries for that kind observation.
  Access to quality education is the basis the American Dream. In 1965, 
the Higher Education Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by 
President Lyndon Baines Johnson, a former rural schoolhouse teacher, 
who fully understood that education is the greatest equalizer.
  Since then, student aid in this country has been a springboard that 
gives hardworking students with low- to moderate-income the opportunity 
to realize their goals and transcend economic status. The Federal Pell 
Grant program helps more than 9 million students get to and through 
college. Unfortunately, while Pell Grants cover a significant portion 
of tuition, currently it pays for less than one-third of a student's 
tuition at most 4-year public colleges.
  Given rising tuition costs and the decline in family incomes, the 
importance of financial aid has only increased with time. The cost of 
college tuition in the U.S. has increased by more than 1,000 percent--
yes, 1,000 percent--since the 1980s. This is more than the growth in 
the consumer price index. At the same time, the Federal Pell Grant is 
covering an even smaller percentage of the overall college cost.
  As a result, the success of our graduates is being hampered by 
mounting debt. Two-thirds of college seniors who graduated in 2011 
accumulated more than $26,000 in student loan debt. And I am 
increasingly concerned about New Jersey's graduates, who hold the 10th 
highest debt among college students in our Nation.
  And while the cost of an education rises and the amount of the 
student debt skyrockets, young people struggle to find work. They've 
done everything we've asked them to do. They've worked hard, they've 
gotten an education, but unemployment for young college graduates 
remains at 8.8 percent.
  So our graduates' dreams of making it on their own are stifled. They 
are forced to put their lives on hold, move back home with their 
parents, and pinch pennies to pay off their mounting debt. Not only 
does this debt negatively impact the quality of life for our young 
people, but it weakens our economy and our workforce as well. Financial 
constraints caused by student loan debt discourage recent graduates 
from pursuing public service jobs in medical fields that serve our 
seniors in low-income communities.
  Yet knowing all of this, my Republican colleagues have been working 
overtime to exacerbate the problem and make college even less 
affordable.

                              {time}  2120

  The 2014 budget eliminates mandating funding for Pell Grants and 
freezes the maximum grant for 10 years while also cutting eligibility; 
and as of July 1, Federal student loan rates are set to double. Instead 
of adopting efforts to keep interest rates low for young people in a 
volatile economic environment, my Republican colleagues have introduced 
a bill--and are voting on it this week--that can increase rates far 
beyond this July increase. As I like to call it, it's the Making 
College More Expensive Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I beg your patience as I go through a little rudimentary 
arithmetic.
  Right now, student loan interest rates are fixed at 3.4 percent, 
meaning a student pays about $4,000 in interest payments on a 5-year 
loan. If we do nothing and let the interest rate expire this July, 
rates will double to 6.8 percent, and a student will pay nearly 
$9,000--more than the double--on the same 5-year loan. Now, if we do 
what the Republicans want us to do and pass their bill this week, 
student loan interest rates will skyrocket to an estimated 7.4 percent, 
and the same student would pay $10,000 in interest. In other words, if 
we do absolutely nothing--nothing at all--it would be better than if we 
pass the Republicans' proposed bill in the House.
  Now, I'm not suggesting that we do nothing--this body must act--but 
it is a sad reality when doing nothing is better than going along with 
what the Republicans are pushing. Rather than invest in our future 
leaders and entrepreneurs of America, they propose to balance the 
budget on the backs of low- to moderate-income students. I fear that, 
by ignoring a generation buried under debt, we will cripple this 
country's future.
  This great Nation is supposed to be a land of opportunity for all 
regardless of what you look like or where you come from. Throughout our 
history, the opportunities afforded to people of various backgrounds 
have built this Nation, creating a large and thriving middle class. 
Access to education has been the catalyst to this growth. As we look to 
our future, it is critical that we place education at the forefront of 
the plans for our success. We can start by stopping the doubling of 
student loan interest rates and by once again making a college 
education affordable for all of those who want one.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey.
  As we close, this chart really illustrates the magnitude of the 
collective problem confronting younger Americans in the United States 
of America. The student loan debt burden has now exceeded $1 trillion. 
Now, in this Chamber, we hear a lot about the debt crisis facing 
America, but we have a student loan debt crisis that must be addressed.
  I yield to my good friend, the gentleman from Nevada, Steven 
Horsford, for his thoughts on this matter.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you, Representative Jeffries.
  This chart and this number should alarm every American family. As you 
just indicated, in this body there are those on the other side of the 
aisle who talk about not burdening the next generation with a debt that 
they cannot afford to pay. It is for us, as leaders, to do our job now 
so that they don't have to bear that burden in the next generation. 
This is why this issue is so fundamental and why we must get this 
policy right, so that we don't burden the next generation of students.
  We have increasing numbers who are low-income and who now have that 
opportunity for the first time ever to go to college. We have 
increasing numbers who are minority students, first-generation students 
who need to pursue their educations without the burden of a $1 trillion 
debt from taking out student loans. The Huffington Post reported 
recently that the spread between what the government pays to borrow and 
what it charges students creates a profit this fiscal year of more than 
36 cents off every dollar lent to borrowers.
  So the question is: Why are our colleagues on the other side 
proposing a measure to increase interest rates on students and 
families?
  That money does not go to the Department of Education, Mr. Speaker.

[[Page 7258]]

That money goes to the Treasury, which goes to pay down the Federal 
debt. So the proposal on the other side actually charges students, an 
increasing number of low-income and minority students, more money in 
order to pay down the Federal debt so that the other side can keep 
corporate tax breaks for Big Oil, big banks, and millionaires. That's 
what this fundamentally comes down to. It's why every American should 
be concerned with this policy, and why we're coming up with a 
Democratic alternative worthy of support.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman.
  We will continue to do all that we can to make college affordable for 
every single American.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, once again, we have been pushed to a 
political standoff over an important issue that affects the future of 
our nation. On July 1, college students will see the interest rates on 
their federal loans double. College is becoming less and less 
affordable each day, and the bill the majority has offered for a vote 
this week, H.R. 1911 the Smarter Solutions for Students Act, provides 
no reprieve for college students. In fact, if this bill becomes law, it 
would make college more expensive for students and their parents than 
if Congress did nothing and let the interest rates double. It shouldn't 
be titled the Smarter Solutions Act, but rather, the Making College 
More Expensive Act.
  It is not simply rhetoric or a baseless claim to state that the 
Republican bill will increase the cost of college. The Congressional 
Research Service looked at different scenarios where a student or their 
parent would use a federal loan in order to pay for college and how 
much that loan would cost under the Republican plan if rates were 
frozen at 3.4 percent, and if rates were allowed to double to 6.8 
percent. Based on projected interest rates, CRS found that the 
Republican-led H.R. 1911 would increase interest payments under each 
scenario. If we look at one particular scenario, a student who borrowed 
the maximum amount of subsidized and unsubsidized loans for five years 
would see their interest payments increase over the lifetime of the 
loan by 14.5 percent, compared to allowing fares to double. The 
Republican plan would cost an astounding 45 percent more than if we 
froze current interest rates at 3.4 percent.
  The Congressional Budget Office also looked at the total cost of H.R. 
1911 for families looking to send their sons and daughters to college. 
They found that over 10 years, H.R. 1911 would cost working families an 
additional $3.7 billion in interest payments. The federal government 
should not be in the business of profiting off of the backs of students 
and their parents. We should be helping them pursue a higher education, 
not squeezing them for every penny they have.
  Let's work together on a common sense proposal that makes federal 
loans affordable and allows young people to obtain a degree without 
burdening them with insurmountable student debt. We need real solutions 
that will help young Americans succeed and make our country stronger.

                          ____________________