Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlelady from New York. T-minus 38 days, 38 days until student loan interest rates are scheduled to increase from 3.4 to 6.8 percent. Mr. Speaker, in my district in Colorado, students trying to finance their education through Federally subsidized loans at the University of Colorado and Colorado State University and our other fine universities and, indeed, across the country simply can't afford, in a low interest rate environment today, with the sluggish economy, to have their rates double--double--in 38 days. Look, there's been a lot of good ideas that have been presented that would allow student loan rates to remain the same or even get better. We had, in our committee, the Education and Labor Committee, a Courtney amendment, which I supported, our Democratic substitute, to keep them at 3.4 percent. There are even proposals to lower them beyond that. I have a bipartisan bill with Representative Petri that moves the program over to earnings-contingent education loans, so that repayment amounts are contingent upon how much somebody is earning. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, I oppose the rule because it hasn't allowed any of these ideas to be brought forward to the floor. {time} 1010 I was glad to see our ranking member, Mr. Miller, bring forth the President's proposal, which includes Earnings Contingent Education Loans. Unfortunately, the Rules Committee did not make it in order under this rule, which is why I oppose it.…”