[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7782]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        STUDENT LOAN RATE HIKES

  (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, student loan interest rates are scheduled to 
double July 1 unless the President and Senate act now to remove 
politics from the rate-setting process.
  No amount of White House campaigning will stop the increase. We have 
to work together. And that shouldn't be hard since House Republicans 
already share a great deal of common ground with President Obama's own 
interest rate proposal. He asked for a permanent solution to 
Washington's interest rate conundrum. He asked that the solution anchor 
rates in the market and away from election cycles and that it include 
protections for the most vulnerable. The Smarter Solutions for Students 
Act, passed by the House with bipartisan support, meets those criteria.
  Our solution to stop rates from doubling provides a good starting 
point for Senate Democrats and President Obama to take action before 
July 1. The President must not cede this common ground to empty 
speeches and political posturing.
  Let's build on the common ground to keep rates from doubling.

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