[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10920-10921]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             STUDENT LOANS

  Ms. WARREN. The interest rate on student loans doubled on July 1. 
Because Congress failed to act, our lowest income students are now 
paying twice as much on these new loans. While students are paying 
more, the Federal Government is boosting its own profits--$51 billion 
in profits from the student loan programs in 2013 alone. This is just 
plain wrong.
  The government is making obscene profits on these loans--profits we 
can and should cut back on to help our kids who are struggling to pay 
for college. But Republicans have repeatedly blocked our efforts to 
pass a short-term fix that would save students from higher interest 
rates.
  This week the Senate will vote to fix this problem. The bill, Keep 
Student Loans Affordable Act, was introduced by Senators Jack Reed and 
Kay Hagan. It would drop the rate on direct student loans back down to 
3.4 percent for 1 year, retroactively as of July 1, and give Congress 
time to develop a plan to do the three things we need to do: Reform 
student loan interest rates on new loans, refinance $1 trillion in 
existing debt, and lower college costs for all of our kids.
  Republicans have a different approach. Despite the obscene profits of 
the current program, they propose to make even more money from 
students. Their current proposal would bring in an extra $1 billion in 
profits off the backs of our students.
  Listen to the numbers. New loans will produce $184 billion in profits 
for the U.S. Government over the next 10 years. That includes the 6.8 
percent interest on direct loans, all the borrowing costs, all the 
administrative costs, and all the bad debt losses for the program.
  Let me say that again: The new student loans, including direct loans 
at 6.8 percent, will make $184 billion in profits for the government 
over the next 10 years--and the Republican solution is to increase 
those profits for the U.S. Government. In other words, their solution 
to the rising interest rate problem is to make students pay even more.
  Some of my colleagues are telling students the plan they have is a 
great deal. But their argument is the same argument that was used by 
the slick operators who sold teaser rate mortgages and the ones who 
sold zero interest rate credit cards. Sure, the first couple of years 
will be cheaper, but they don't want anyone to look at what happens 
after that.
  Fortunately, our students are smarter than that. They read the fine 
print. They know in the end this debate boils down to simple math--math 
that our students understand, even if some people in Congress wish they 
didn't.
  Our students sent a letter to Majority Leader Reid and Minority 
Leader McConnell with a clear message: A bad deal is worse than no deal 
at all. Our students need a plan that costs them less money, not a plan 
that costs them more.
  I talk a lot about math, but the Senate's decision about student 
loans is a decision about our values and a decision about how we build 
a future. Investing in our students will allow them to get good jobs 
and give them a shot to make it in America, but that same investment 
will also create new industries and grow the economy for everyone.
  We shouldn't treat our students like a profit center. We shouldn't 
ask them to pay an extra tax to go to school. And we shouldn't try to 
trick them by shuffling numbers around, hitting them with teaser rates, 
and declaring a problem is solved while the students just keep paying 
more and more.
  There are real problems in higher education today: Skyrocketing 
college costs, historic levels of student debt, and high borrowing 
rates. It is going to take time to develop a solution that works, and 
there is no magic math that will make student loan profits disappear or 
make college tuition shrink without some sacrifice. But right now, 
students are the only ones who are sacrificing. They are giving up the 
dream of owning a home or being able to retire just so they can keep 
paying for college.
  Congress can ease the burden on our students, and we should be 
committed to doing just that because this is how we build a stronger 
middle class. This

[[Page 10921]]

is how we build a better future for our entire country. It is a first 
step, but it is a good one.
  Congress can pass the Keep Student Loans Affordable Act. It is a 
short-term patch to keep interest rates on new loans from doubling for 
1 year while Congress develops a plan to reform student loans and to 
make college more affordable. I support the measure, and I urge my 
colleagues to do the same.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.

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