On the recordOctober 21, 2015
I stand to join in with the voices we have already heard from, including Senator Murphy of Connecticut and Senator Portman of Ohio--bipartisan, of course--who have stood in support of the unanimous consent request of Senator Baldwin, blocked by the opposing party, that we move forward with reauthorizing the Perkins Loan Program. The voice that I think is so often missing from the deliberations in the Senate is the voice we just heard brought forward by Senator Murphy of Connecticut, the voice of our constituents--the constituents who connect with us when we are home in our States; the constituents who reach out to us by letter and by email. I just wanted to add the voices of my constituents from the State of Delaware. Apparently, our colleagues have failed to hear from thousands--even hundreds of thousands--of our home State constituents who rely on Federal Perkins loans. This program is a critical lifeline for students across the country who would be well on their way to a college degree if it weren't for the skyrocketing, unsustainable costs of higher education. I think Congress's failure to reauthorize the Perkins Loan Program is already having a negative impact on students and on households across our country. We can see the real-world impact in our home States if we will but listen to our constituents. Let me give two examples of Delawareans who have recently reached out to me.…
