On the recordSeptember 16, 2014
Mr. President, I wish to commend all of the incredible work that the Senator from Michigan has done on the ``fair shot'' agenda, how she really has been out there working hard for families across this country. For middle-class families, for working families, for people who are just trying to get a fair shot, and on education she has been a tremendous leader. It has been a real privilege to have this opportunity to work with the Senator from Michigan. I know the Senator from Michigan and I are going to keep working on this set of issues. I rise today to urge my colleagues to allow a debate and vote on the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act. Some 40 million Americans are dealing with student loan debt, and many of them are drowning in it. A quarter of all Federal student loan borrowers are behind on their payments. Student loan debt is dragging down our young people, and it is dragging down the economy. It is keeping borrowers from buying homes, moving out on their own, buying cars and opening small businesses. In June the Senate voted on a proposal to allow borrowers to refinance their existing student loans down to the interest rates offered to new borrowers. These are the same rates that nearly every Republican in the House and the Senate voted just last summer to offer to new borrowers. This refinancing bill would not add a single dime to the deficit.…