Bill Clinton: “Service and Student Loan Reform May 5, 1993 To the Congress of the United States: I am pleased to transmit today for…”

“Service and Student Loan Reform May 5, 1993 To the Congress of the United States: I am pleased to transmit today for your immediate consideration and enactment the ``National Service Trust Act of 1993'' and the ``Student Loan Reform Act of 1993.'' These Acts represent innovative public policy founded on traditional American values: offering educational opportunity, rewarding personal responsibility, and building the American community. In affirming these values, the Acts reject wasteful bureaucracy--instead reinventing government to unleash the ideas and initiative of the American people. Also transmitted is a section-by- section analysis. Throughout the Presidential campaign last year, Americans of all backgrounds and political persuasions responded to national service like few other ideas. The reasons are clear. Higher education is fundamental to the American Dream, but complex procedures and inflexible repayment plans have created serious problems for many students with education loans to pay back. Defaults are too high today--and taxpayers are left to foot the bill. Americans are yearning to reaffirm an American community that transcends race, region, or religion--and to tackle the problems that threaten our shared future. The two Acts are designed to meet these basic American needs. The National Service Trust Act of 1993 establishes a domestic Peace Corps, offering hundreds of thousands of young people the opportunity to pay for school by doing work our country needs.…”