Virginia Foxx: “And I thank my colleague for yielding the time. While I fully support the underlying intent of S. 1098, the Joint…”

“And I thank my colleague for yielding the time. While I fully support the underlying intent of S. 1098, the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act, I have concerns about the bill as drafted. The purpose of this bill is to protect student loan borrowers who consolidated their loans with a spouse but now seek to reverse this process. Yet, as written, this bill undermines that purpose. I am concerned this bill will hurt the very borrowers we are trying to help. We never want to see a spouse, especially one that is a victim of domestic violence, forced to be financially tied to his or her abuser. We want to give these borrowers a way out. However, we also recognize that it is not only the abused spouse who may be applying for these new consolidations. Under the Senate-passed language, when a borrower files for a new consolidated loan, he or she could potentially leave his or her spouse with the remaining balance. We must be cognizant of the fact that a borrower could use this new legislation as a weapon. This is why we need safeguards in place to ensure that both parties are not subject to potential abuse through the separation process and not just the one filing for a new consolidation. Additionally, the Department of Education has stated that it will take 12 to 18 months to implement this bill. Given the urgency of the situation that many borrowers are in, this kind of delay is unacceptable.…”