[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19475-19476]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             TO ATTACK STUDENT LOAN DEBT, EMPOWER STUDENTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Garrett) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. GARRETT. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to address 
this Chamber and, indeed, America about the challenges that we face at 
this time in our country. There are many. Some exist within this 
Nation, some exist overseas, and some have many answers being batted 
around in Washington; whereas, others have nearly none.
  One of those challenges that has hamstrung our youngest generation is 
the massive, dark cloud of student loan debt. When our colleague, 
Senator Sanders, from the other side of the aisle addressed student 
loan debt during the Presidential campaign last year, he was correct in 
identifying a problem. The way that he chose to address it I would 
disagree with, as he suggested that we should provide for people 
something from the government. I would suggest that the people should 
provide for themselves.
  There are two schools of thought, one that the people rely on the 
government, and one that the government should rely on the people.
  So how do you address this massive black cloud of student loan debt 
that is handicapping our youngest and most creative generation? That is 
something that we have started to do today with the filing of H.R. 
4584, the Student Security Act.
  I speak to you tonight about a brighter future, a future where 
individuals are empowered to make decisions for themselves and where 
they can escape this looming cloud of debt so they might be free to do 
things that we have, heretofore, perhaps taken for granted in this 
country, like buy a new car, like start a family, or, in the words of 
former Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, move out of mom and 
dad's basement.
  But the most important thing that they are not able to do because of 
the black cloud of debt that faces them, Mr. Speaker, I would submit, 
is harness the creativity and the energy that is embodied by their 
ideas. This is a nation of ideas, and certainly when you are encumbered 
with over $40,000 of loan debt per person on average, you are not able 
to get that small business loan, and you are not able to start that new 
business to put those ideas into action and create jobs.
  In fact, a recent poll last month indicated that the majority of 
millennials would sacrifice their very franchise, that is the right to 
vote, in exchange for relief from their student loan debt. All too 
often, heretofore, the words ``student debt'' in the Halls of 
Washington have scared up images of free college. Anyone knows--even 
Mr. Sanders knows--that nothing is free; someone pays. But that is no 
excuse to ignore the problem. Why not allow individuals the option and 
opportunity to pay their own debt?
  Over 40 million Americans--myself included--are paying back $1.3 
trillion in student debt, yet we have done nothing realistic to address 
this problem.
  How do you address new problems? You must address new problems with 
new ideas. H.R. 4584, the Student Security Act, is just that.
  I will stop as an aside to take a moment to thank a young man, Elliot 
Harding, a recent student from Charlottesville, Virginia, who came to 
me with this idea: What do we do as a nation if we lose the creativity 
of an entire generation because of this burdensome debt? Because that 
is what we are on the precipice of.
  I contemplated it and decided that this isn't something I was able to 
let happen on my watch. So as a result, I was all ears as he explained 
the idea that became student security.
  It is as follows: right now we know that the Social Security plan 
that our seniors--indeed, my very mother--rely upon to get by on a day-
to-day basis is facing an imminent bankruptcy, that solvency is in 
question, and that by 2034, according to most estimates, there will be 
no solvency. That is a problem, too.
  Many of you at home are wondering how I moved from student loan debt 
to Social Security, and that is the beauty of this idea. To empower 
individuals to make decisions for themselves and address these very 
real challenges, the Student Security Act would allow a student to 
write off $550 of student loan debt for every month that they were 
willing to voluntarily forgo a Social Security benefit. The time value 
of money, my friends. We have forced no one to do anything. We have in 
no way, shape, or form changed one scintilla of the promise that is 
Social Security that we have made for generations to our seniors. But 
at the same time, we have provided an 11 percent increase in the 
solvency of that program, extending the life of that promise without 
raising taxes and without forcing a single soul to do a single thing 
against their will.
  That would translate into $6,600 per student, per year, that they 
were willing to voluntarily forgo receipt of Social Security benefits.
  The bill would cap at a maximum of $40,150 in debt relief. This would 
correspond to a 6-year delay in receipt of Social Security benefits, 
and, again, no one would be forced to do a thing, but students who 
sought to remove from their lives the black cloud of student loan debt 
would be empowered to, at their own discretion, make this decision for 
themselves.

                              {time}  1730

  As they say in the TV world: But wait; there is more.
  We ran this program past the Congressional Budget Office and then 
later past the Social Security Administration. What would the impact on 
Social Security be when empowering people to make decisions for 
themselves? And, by the way, how would we defray the costs as to people 
who are young now, who won't invest in Social Security until later, 
versus the fact they are students now?
  The numbers are not good; they are great. We would allow cosigners on 
loans this option as well, to avail their children or grandchildren of 
these benefits should they choose to defer receipt of Social Security 
benefits, again to the amount of $40,150. That would begin immediately.
  That would also save, according to the Social Security 
Administration, $700 billion, while also addressing the very real needs 
of American students currently hamstrung by a broken college finance 
system.
  So what do we do with the Student Security Act?
  We are delighted to welcome Congressman Ferguson, Congressman Brat, 
Congressman Rokita, and Congressman Messer. We invite our colleagues 
from both sides of the aisle to look at this outside-the-box, dynamic 
new way of addressing the solvency of Social Security and the 
insolvency of our youngest, most creative generation.
  The data indicates that we would extend the viability of the Social 
Security program by 11 percent of what is needed to make it wholly 
solvent in perpetuity. That would be the equivalent of a 0.3 percent 
increase in the payroll tax, but without a tax increase and without 
taking anything from anyone without their voluntary entry into the 
program.
  It would lift the black cloud of student loan debt to the tune of 
over $40,000 per person in a world where 90 percent of debtors have 
less than $40,000 in debt, and it would return to the coffers of this 
indebted Nation, by the Social Security Administration's estimates, 
$700,000,000,000--seven-tenths of $1 trillion.
  So I stand here today and ask you to ask yourselves:
  Do you trust people to make good decisions for other people?

[[Page 19476]]

  Do you believe that people should rely on government or that 
government should rely on people?
  Do you believe that this country can harness the ideas and the vision 
and the energy of what is inherently the most creative generation if we 
are able to free these young people from burdensome debt that stops 
them from engaging in key life events like buying a home and buying a 
car and getting married and starting a business?
  Do you believe that we need to think outside the box to ensure that 
we keep the promise that is Social Security, which has been made in 
this country for generations?
  If you, like me, believe this and are a Member, I invite you to join 
as a patron of H.R. 4584, regardless of your party affiliation or 
ideology. If you, like me, as a citizen, believe this is a good idea, I 
invite you to speak to your Representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an opportunity not only to change how we do 
business, but to empower people to empower themselves to create greater 
opportunity and prosperity in this country by harnessing the energy and 
ideas of our youngest and largest living generation and to keep the 
promise that we have made for generation after generation and to people 
like my mother that Social Security will remain reliable and solvent.
  Again, I invite you to join on this legislation or contact your 
Representative and encourage them to join. H.R. 4584, the Student 
Security Act, is a new way of addressing an old problem that relies on 
the oldest solution, and that is individuals empowered to work for 
themselves.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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