Political Quotes

“Mr. President, if I could reclaim my time, the Senator has been a tremendous leader on this issue because he leads from the front. He is in Ohio. He is talking to students and families. He understands the personal ramifications that are involved. Let there be no mistake. This is a program that benefits middle and lower middle-income Americans. Nearly 60 percent of the dependent students who qualify for subsidized loans come from families with incomes of less than $60,000. This is not a perk for the superwealthy. Nearly 70 percent of independent students--that is the term of art for those adults or older people who may have some previous training but they have to go back to the community college to get a certificate and are trying to transition from a job that was shipped overseas to one they think they can get here. Nearly 70 percent of independent students borrowing these loans have incomes of less than $30,000 a year. So we are talking about people who cannot afford a doubling of the interest rate. But there is another issue too. It is not just, as Senator Brown pointed out, to fulfill legitimate and, in fact, admirable personal ambitions of establishing oneself in a community by buying a home or raising a family; this is about our future, our productivity as a nation, our ability to compete in an incredibly difficult international, global economy. We have looked at the statistics at universities such as Georgetown University.…”