Political Quotes

“All of that is true, and we've got 5 days. The Congress of the United States has 5 days in which to make a fundamental decision about how we treat those who are participating in the most important investment that any society makes, which is the investment in education. Right now, we are asking most students to pay for their own education through loans and through some grants that are given through Pell Grants, but they've taken on enormous amounts of debt. Students in the United States have taken on $1 trillion of debt. A large portion of that debt is the Stafford loans, subsidized and unsubsidized. The loan rate on those programs is going to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent in just 5 days, creating an enormous burden on the students on whom we rely to grow our economy. They've made the investment, and this society has made the investment in them. We need to free them so that they can participate more fully in our society--so that they can participate as consumers and so that they can participate as small businesses men and women, the entrepreneurs. All of this is possible if we take action, and we must. We owe it to those students. We owe it to the economy. We owe it to our ability to make it once again in America. All of these things come together with immigration reform, as you've pointed out, Mr. Takano. I really appreciate you being with us tonight. I think we've pretty much closed off this subject.…”