Political Quotes

“I would like to be recognized on the student loan bill. The time can come out of the Manchin-Burr amendment. I am not sure exactly how we are allocating time. Let me take this opportunity to thank the cosponsors of the bill: Senator Alexander, Senator Coburn, Senator Carper, Senator King, and Senator Manchin. Without this bipartisan approach, we would not be here today. It has not been lost on me that four of the six cosponsors are former Governors. They recognize the importance of education. They recognize the importance of students having access to that education. I think all of them are stalwarts as it relates to good education, and I think they recognize, as do Senator Coburn and I, that this is a good bill. It is good policy, the Manchin-Burr-King-Alexander-Coburn-Carper bill. Let me take a minute to share with my colleagues or remind my colleagues where we are today. Senator King just did it. Under current law we are at 6.8 percent for all undergraduate students. It is higher for graduate students. It is higher for PLUS loans. A month ago, we had a bifurcated system where some undergraduates paid 6.8 percent and other undergraduates, who were considered subsidized, paid 3.4 percent. I would suggest that is morally wrong. I think collectively what we did was we said: How can we come up with a system that shows the equity we believe in and that provides a financial benefit to all students who participate?…”