Dick Durbin: “during this last break I went back to Illinois and visited a lot of college campuses. I went to Augustana College, which…”

“during this last break I went back to Illinois and visited a lot of college campuses. I went to Augustana College, which is in the Quad Cities, and then went to Illinois State University in Normal, IL, and then down to the University of Illinois. At each one of those campuses I had a press conference about student debt. Student debt today has reached a point where we have to pay close attention to it--and we should. The vast majority of Americans ask a very basic question: Senator, is there anything you are doing today that really is going to help my family? For 44 million Americans currently paying on student loans in America, legislation that is going to be introduced tomorrow can make a big difference. I am cosponsoring a bill with Elizabeth Warren, the Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a very bright lady who was on the faculty of the Harvard Law School and who understands these issues better than almost anyone I have ever met. She is leading the way on a college student loan refinancing bill. Here is what we are trying to do. We are trying to get those students who are trapped in big debts with high interest rates a chance to refinance their loans. How significant could it be? Well, when I met these students at different schools, they told me their stories. As a former college borrower myself, as a father raising three kids who went through college, it was sad.…”