Sherrod Brown: “I thank the Chair. I will close. We know several things. We, first of all, know that my amendment sets up a competition.…”

“I thank the Chair. I will close. We know several things. We, first of all, know that my amendment sets up a competition. It does not set up, it does not run the system. It simply sets up a competition. It does not tilt the playing field. It makes the playing field even so interest rates will not continue to be at a usurious rate of 16 and 17 and 18 percent. We know the Direct Loan Program works. We have seen the Government involved in the Direct Loan Program, as in Pell, as in Stafford. The Government, in fact, has negative subsidy rates of 7 percent and 4 percent. In other words, the Government has done these so efficiently that the Government either breaks even or actually makes money. We know my amendment does not take effect until students have exhausted up to $23,000. There are other opportunities to get financing for college. It only goes there. It is not a new program that simply will take people in because it is tilted, as my friend, the Senator from New Hampshire, says. We also know if we do nothing, as USA Today said: There is just one problem. The efforts short of this amendment would do little to rein in the fastest growing area of the market-- loans that are not federally backed whose rates can generally rise without limit. Bills in Congress would not affect rates on these loans, also often called private loans, until this amendment. The ranking member said he hopes the banks charge lower interest rates.…”