On the recordJune 26, 2013
I do appreciate the gentleman for yielding to me. I rise to actually speak about an issue that I think we should be addressing today and at this very moment. With student loan interest rates set to rise in only 5 short days, the time to act is now. It is unacceptable that we have not yet brought up a bill for a vote that can be passed by both Chambers and signed into law. With tuition rising rapidly and with far too many families and students struggling to make ends meet, middle class families are finding it more and more difficult to pay for college. When I'm home each weekend in Iowa, I hear from countless students and parents who cannot understand why we can't seem to get this done. This should not be a partisan issue. We need to address student loan debt in the interest of our economy. We must prepare our students for the kind of good-paying middle class jobs that will drive our economy forward, and we must do so in a way that does not saddle them with a lifetime of debt, which prevents them from fully participating in the economy. I could not have gone to college and would not be where I am today without low-interest student loans and other financial assistance programs that were available to me. It's critical that we get this done now. I am willing to stay here and work until we get this done. We cannot allow the House to recess and leave our students in the dust to face this rate hike.
