Elizabeth Warren: “40 million people in this country--40 million--are dealing with more than $1 trillion in student loan debt. It is…”

“40 million people in this country--40 million--are dealing with more than $1 trillion in student loan debt. It is crushing our young people and dragging down our economy. It is a national economic emergency. Yesterday Senators had a chance to do the right thing. We had a chance to allow young people with high-interest loans to refinance those loans down to a lower rate, a chance to move forward on the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, and a chance to stand for our young people who are just starting their economic lives. A majority of Senators voted to seize that chance. Every Democratic Senator, every Independent Senator, and three Republican Senators voted to seize that chance. But despite the majority support, despite this bipartisan support, the bill failed. Why? Because Republicans pulled out their favorite tool--the filibuster. They blocked the Senate from even debating this bill. Over the past few days we have heard a lot of excuses, but yesterday the Republicans said we should not even consider this legislation until we voted on the Sanders-McCain legislation to address the situation at the VA. The VA legislation is a very good bill. It is a very important bill, and the Senate voted on it yesterday afternoon. So now that the Senate has passed it, where are the Republicans? The veterans vote is over, so where are the Republicans who are now ready to debate the student loan refinancing?…”