Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for his work in helping us get to this point today. It is an important moment at the end of an important year, and we are grateful for his leadership. Even when we have had a basic disagreement to get this compromise worked out, it would not have happened, it could not have happened without his leadership and working with Democrats on our side of the aisle, Senator Murray, as the ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, working with Chairman Alexander. I thank Senator Baldwin for her work in leading this effort on our side and leading our team. This is a compromise, which, as Senator Alexander noted, some people don't think we do enough of. I think it is an important example of why we must work together. When we consider the compromise that I worked on and the other Senators who are here and others who are not here, along with our staffs--I mentioned Jared and Lauren on my staff, who did a lot of work on this, and we are grateful for that. But we can report today some good news for more than 150,000 current freshmen Perkins loan recipients whose eligibility was cut off when the program expired on the 30th of September of this year. This bipartisan agreement provides for a 2-year extension of the Perkins Loan Program and provides some certainty for students and their families as we debate a longer term solution. We have more to do. Simply put, what students tell us they need is that basic certainty.…”