Political Quotes

“To my thinking, this bill addresses a crisis and also addresses over 1 year an inequality which needs to be addressed. The crisis is the Federal Government's loan consolidation program offered as part of the Department of Education's Direct Lending effort. With a backlog of over 80,000 loan consolidation requests, that part of the system clearly is in crisis. This is simply not fair to the students, and the bill helps address that. I am confident that the private lenders of the Guaranteed Student Loan Program will meet the challenge we give them in this bill. Rather than delays, backlogs, and shutdowns, students will have the service they have a right to expect. As to the fairness issue, I am glad that the private sector will be allowed a loan consolidation role like the Government's loan program for the next year. I hope this becomes permanent in future legislation. If we are to have two student loan programs, one run by the Government yet one made available through the private sector, let us give them equal range. Let us give permanently to the private sector this loan consolidation opportunity.”