[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8876-8877]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       TIME RUNNING OUT FOR STAFFORD STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, in 17 days, unless Congress acts, the 
Stafford student loan program--which is the workhorse loan program for 
millions of college students all across America--is going to see the 
interest rate double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.
  Stepping back for a moment, 6 years ago, the Democrats passed the 
College Cost Reduction Act, which cut that rate from 6.8 to 3.4 
percent. It was a 5-year bill concurrent with the Higher Education 
Authorization Act. Last year, with minutes to spare, we extended that 
lower rate of 3.4 percent for an additional year. And now, once again, 
we are hours away from students who are about to embark on life 
decisions, in terms of which college to attend, which course to follow; 
and they need to know with some certainty the borrowing cost, which for 
many is now a stark reality in terms of paying the cost of higher 
education.
  This morning in The New York Times, there was a very encouraging 
story about the fact that the number of college degrees in the U.S. has 
hit an all-time high. Students are now completing college, and it's 
just in time in terms of the workforce needs of our country. The same 
study which was released yesterday shows that in fact we have workforce 
needs for high-degree skills for which the education system is still 
scrambling to catch up. So there is no question for young people in 
America. This question of protecting the affordability of higher 
education is of critical importance to both their future and to our 
Nation's future.
  Unfortunately, the only action in the House of Representatives was a 
measure which the majority party rammed through a couple of weeks ago, 
which the Congressional Budget Office Monday issued an analysis of. 
What CBO told the country is that the House Republican bill--which is a 
variable interest rate program--would actually cost students more than 
if we did nothing and let the rates double to 6.8 percent. I want to 
repeat that. That measure actually worsens the situation if we did 
absolutely nothing and allowed the rate to go to 6.8 percent.
  It's obvious what we need to do. As a Congress, we need to recognize 
the fact that we have a national interest in terms of maintaining 
access to higher education. We also need to recognize that families are 
being crushed with the cost of higher education when we need to protect 
the lower interest rate.
  I have a bill, H.R. 1595, which has over 150 cosponsors in the 
House--it received 51 votes in the Senate--that would protect that 
lower rate for 2 years and allow us to do a new Higher Education 
Authorization Act. This morning, just a few minutes ago, I executed a 
discharge petition for Members of Congress to sign to get H.R. 1595 on 
the floor immediately so that we can protect the lower interest rates 
for young people embarking on next year's college curriculum and 
semester.
  So I would urge all Members to sign the discharge petition, H.R. 
1595, which will protect the lower rate so that we can, in a measured, 
intelligent way, come up with a Higher Education Authorization Act, 
which will go through the whole gamut of issues for college costs--
whether it's the Perkins loan program, Pell Grants, allowing students 
to refinance after they leave college, giving high school students 
better information as they make a decision that really is almost the 
equivalent of buying a house when you go to college in modern day 
America. Again, the stakes are huge, but the payoff is even greater for 
students, which that report issued yesterday documents.
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I want to join some of my colleagues who are 
going to speak later this morning who will note the fact that it is now 
6 months ago to the date that my State, the State of Connecticut, saw a 
horrible tragedy, young children who were slaughtered in an act of 
senseless gun violence. And today, survivors of the Newtown massacre 
are all across Capitol Hill urging Congress to act.
  Congressman Thompson and Congressman King painstakingly worked out a 
compromise bill to strengthen background checks in our country, 
balancing constitutional concerns, again, totally consistent with the 
Heller decision, which sets forth the individual right to gun 
ownership.
  It is time for this Congress to act. We should pass the Thompson-King 
bill. We should listen to those families, the survivors of the Newtown 
massacre, who are begging Congress to move forward and act on this 
measure. It will protect the rights of gun owners, but it will also 
protect the public safety of this country, which is so long overdue.
  I want to salute Congressman Thompson, Congressman King, 
Congresswoman Esty, who represents the Newtown district in Connecticut, 
all of my colleagues from my State, and all across the country who have 
come together in response to this horrible event to make sure that it 
will not just be a passing memory, but that we will build something 
from that event that

[[Page 8877]]

will protect Americans from the epidemic of gun violence that 
unfortunately goes on every single day in this country.

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