Lateefah Simon: “I would respond that there are a number of imperfections in the budget scoring of student loans, and that the chairman's…”

“I would respond that there are a number of imperfections in the budget scoring of student loans, and that the chairman's point about administrative costs is one of them. But on the whole, I believe the imperfections create a bias in favor of the government-guarantee program. That is why I objected last year to addressing only the issue of administrative costs, without considering other issues. I explained some of these issues in a letter to the chairman last week, and I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record. If you allow the one-sided scoring to stand, I would urge you to at least apply the language to FFEL as well as the direct loan program. It is not appropriate to bend scorekeeping rules just to accomplish a narrow policy objective. If scoring practices are changed, all appropriate issues should be addressed, and the corrections should be both balanced and comprehensive.”