On the recordMay 19, 2011
I might also add, I think Congress made a serious error in saying that the private loans from the same schools will be treated the same way. They are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Here we have someone who could be 19 or 20 years old signing up for $4,000, $5,000 or $10,000 worth of student loans. Have they really thought and reflected on the fact that that debt they have incurred is going to be with them for a lifetime and, at some point in their lives, when they can no longer borrow money to go to school, and they are still facing default on their student loan, they could have their income tax returns attached, they could be prohibited from Federal employment? They cannot discharge this loan in bankruptcy. They are stuck with it. That poor girl living in her parents' basement with a $90,000 debt for Westwood College, a rip-off institution, is stuck. She has nowhere to turn. The college president wrote to me and said I am just being totally unfair with him about her experience. Well, I know her experience inside and out. I said: You want fairness? You step in and forgive her loan. You pay it back. You have the money. You pay it back. Never heard back from him. They don't have the interests of the students at heart. They have the interests of money at heart. That is why I am glad the Senator is investigating, and we will continue to speak out.
