Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we are engaged in a very important debate while the clock is ticking on literally the future of the postal service. I want to alert my colleagues to another issue that is rapidly approaching. On July 1, if we do not act, the interest rate on subsidized student loans will be doubling from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, impacting more than 7 million students, including more than 36,000 in Rhode Island. I have introduced legislation--the Student Loan Affordability Act--to stop the doubling of student loan interest rates as of July 1 of this year. Many of my colleagues have already joined me, including Senators Begich, Sherrod Brown, Durbin, Franken, Tim Johnson, Klobuchar, Leahy, Murray, Sanders, Schumer, Stabenow, Whitehouse, and Wyden, as cosponsors of the legislation. I thank them and urge all of my colleagues to join us in supporting this legislation. If we don't act, the average borrower will have to pay approximately $2,800 more in interest on their loans. Students who take out the maximum $23,000 in subsidized student loans could owe approximately $5,000 more over the 10-year repayment period. Students and families simply cannot absorb these costs in this tough economy and in the face of rising tuition and dwindling State support for higher education. This particular measure will hit middle-income families very hard because they are the ones who rely significantly on these subsidized student loans.…”