Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I certainly respect my colleague's words about working together. I think we have to work together. I also respect the fact that he has made a proposal and the President has made a proposal. In my mind, both proposals fall very short on several issues. First, they use a baseline rate of the 10-year T-bill, which we have not generally used before for setting student loan interest rates. There is no cap on either proposal. One of the advantages the President's proposal has, I will admit, is income-based repayment. So I have serious reservations about both proposals. I think the issue that faces us now is when we talk about trying to create a long-term solution, it is not just about structuring interest rates, it is also about refinancing loans that exist today and those that may come due in the future. Student loan debt is one of the greatest hindrances to young people today and ultimately to our economy in terms of buying homes and doing the things we expect college graduates could do before they turn 30--things that are going to be put on hold because they are paying off huge debts. The other thing we have to do is look at the structure of costs for colleges and the extraordinary growth in college costs. So rather than simply saying we fix the problem by going to a higher market rate, which, by the way, will cost all borrowers, particularly low- and middle-income borrowers, significantly more money--that is not fixing the problem.…”