[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9718-9719]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   BANK ON STUDENTS EMERGENCY LOAN REFINANCING ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 409, S. 
2432, the Warren college affordability legislation.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to the consideration of S. 2432, a bill 
     to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for the 
     refinancing of certain Federal student loans, and for other 
     purposes.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, if any, there will be a rollcall vote on the 
confirmation of Hannah Lauck, who will serve in the State of Virginia. 
Following that vote the time until noon will be equally divided between 
the two leaders or their designees.
  At noon there will be two rollcall votes on confirmations that come 
from the Judiciary Committee. One is a judge who will preside in 
Massachusetts by the name of Sorokin, and one will preside in the State 
of Nevada by the name of Boulware.
  Following the vote on the Boulware nomination, the Senate will recess 
until 2:15 p.m. for our weekly caucus meetings. At 2:30 p.m. there will 
be three cloture votes on Federal Reserve nominations: first, cloture 
on the nomination of Lael Brainard to be a member of the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, then cloture on the nomination 
of Jerome H. Powell to be a member of the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, and finally, cloture on the nomination of 
Stanley Fischer, who is already a member of the Federal Reserve but he 
will be elevated to be Vice Chair of the Board of Governors.


                Measure Placed on the Calendar--S. 2450

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand S. 2450 is at the desk and due 
for a second reading.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will read the bill by title for 
the second time.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2450) to improve the access of veterans to 
     medical services from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 
     for other purposes.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I object to any further proceedings at this 
time.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard. The bill will be 
placed on the calendar.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, this is landmark legislation. I so 
compliment Senators Sanders and McCain for coming to this agreement. I 
hope we can move this bill expeditiously.


                          Boulware Nomination

  Later today the Senate will vote to confirm a man by the name of 
Richard Boulware to be a district court trial judge for the State of 
Nevada. A remarkable man he is, extremely smart, and he is a very 
talented lawyer from Las Vegas. His father was the first neurologist to 
come to Las Vegas--a fine man--and his mom was very politically active 
in a lot of matters for so many years.
  Richard F. Boulware has impeccable credentials. He grew up in Las 
Vegas and attended Harvard University. He went out on his own after 
graduating from Harvard. He had a consultancy, and he was watching the 
impeachment proceeding that took place of President Clinton and he said 
to himself: I should be involved in understanding this stuff more. So 
he applied to Columbia. It wasn't a walk in the park for him to go. It 
was extremely expensive. But he is so smart. He got scholarships almost 
all the way. He graduated very high in his class at Columbia.
  Upon graduation, he worked at Covington & Burling in New York, one of 
the premier law firms in the country. He also became a Federal public 
defender in New York. Since 2007 he has been a Federal public defender 
in Nevada. If confirmed, Richard Boulware will become the first African 
American man to serve on the U.S. district court in Nevada.
  I had the pleasure and good fortune to put the first woman on the 
Federal bench in Nevada. She was a black woman. She was so good. Her 
name is Johnnie Rawlinson. She was so good that in a very short period 
of time she was elevated to become a member of the Ninth Circuit. 
During Obama's presidency, she has always been on the short list.
  Richard Boulware will be just as good as any member of that bench we 
have in Nevada. I am impressed with his dedication to the State of 
Nevada. He has already distinguished himself as a public servant. So I 
look forward to his confirmation today.


                             Student Loans

  Mr. President, we have all seen the old cowboy western movies that 
saw some unfortunate character getting into quicksand--either pushed or 
fallen--and they try everything they can to get him out. It is always 
the same scene in the movies. An unsuspecting person winds up in 
quicksand, panics, flails around, and each time he does that he gets 
deeper and deeper into this earthy liquid.
  Fortunately, a hero always comes to the rescue. Sometimes it is with 
a rope or branch or something to pull him out of the quicksand to 
safety. That happens once in a while but not very often in real life.
  In America today millions of Americans are caught in financial 
quicksand and looking for a helping hand to pull them to safety. About 
45 million Americans have student loans. As their debt mounts, they 
sink deeper and deeper into financial hardship. There is more student 
debt today than there is credit card debt.
  These Americans who have these loans are trying their best to make 
good on their student loans. They are working multiple jobs, pinching 
pennies. But even the slightest hiccup can plunge them into financial 
ruin.
  The Bank on Student Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, introduced by 
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken, is a lifeline. Just like 
people being stuck in the quicksand in those

[[Page 9719]]

movies, people are stuck in the quicksand in real life with student 
debt. The bill would provide graduates who are now beholden to higher 
interest rates with a 2-year period to refinance current student loans 
at 3.86 percent.
  This legislation would allow more than 25 million Americans to 
refinance expensive student loans. In Nevada, more than 250,000 student 
loan borrowers would save thousands and thousands of dollars in 
interest rate fees by refinancing at current rates.
  But the problem of mounting student loans is not limited to 
individual borrowers. It is a problem that threatens our entire 
economy. I had a call yesterday with a bunch of college students in 
Nevada. They can't get married, they are living with their parents, and 
they are struggling. Is it worth it for me to go to college? I spent 
time trying to convince them that it was and it is.
  Student loan debt now exceeds far more than $1 trillion--approaching 
$1.3 trillion. That is more than credit card or auto loan debt. As of 
last September, 40 percent of student loan borrowers were in default, 
forbearance or deferment. Yet even as many Americans make loan payments 
on time, the staggering amount of those installments precludes young 
Americans from buying houses, beginning families or going into 
business. The legislation before the Senate will give borrowers a fair 
shot in investing in their families and their financial well-being. As 
young Americans are able to purchase new homes and invest in their 
futures, it will inject much-needed capital into our economy.
  Unfortunately, not all Senators agree that allowing borrowers to 
refinance their student loans is a good idea. I was disappointed to 
learn my colleague the Republican leader doesn't support this 
legislation. It wasn't long ago that he referred to this proposal we 
are taking up here today dealing with student loan debt--$1.2 trillion 
or $1.3 trillion debt and 45 million people it affects--he called it a 
fake fight.
  For 25 million Americans, or even more, who stand to benefit from 
this bill, I assure my friend there is nothing fake about helping 
working families pay off debt and save money.
  I so admire what the President did yesterday. He said that if you are 
continuing to refuse to legislate--and we know there has been 
obstruction after filibuster after obstruction after filibuster. The 
President said before the American people he was going to do everything 
he could administratively. Yesterday he did. What he did isn't as good 
as what we are doing, but he did what he could to help 5 million 
students with their debt. So to a single mother working two jobs just 
to take care of her family, make a student loan payment on time, this 
legislation is real. But instead, the Republican leader has reaffirmed 
his commitment to the status quo. Why reform today when he and his tea 
party-driven members said they will reform next year or maybe the next 
year?
  We Democrats aren't standing around waiting for a new year or a new 
Congress to tackle the problem of student loan debt. It is real. We are 
anxious to extend a helping hand to the more than 40 million Americans 
who are fighting to keep their heads above water, trying to get out of 
the quicksand.
  So let's come to the aid of those individuals struggling with student 
loan debt and keep them from sinking deeper and deeper into financial 
quicksand.


                       Reservation of Leader Time

  Mr. President, would the Chair note the business of the day.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the leadership time 
is reserved.

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