Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I come today to the floor first to thank the Senator from Tennessee for taking my call last night as we discussed his objection to extending this, which, from my standpoint, for the many reasons my college from Wisconsin stated, I think is a reasonable proposal to extend the Perkins Loan Program for a 1-year time period. But I certainly understand some of the concerns my colleague from Tennessee has with this particular loan program--and, quite honestly, all the loan programs--often in terms of the affordability of college loans. But as the Senator from Tennessee stated, we share the same goal here. Everyone in this body really does want every American to have the opportunity to get a good education, to get the tools so they can lead a productive life and build a good life for themselves and their families. That is a goal we all share, and we understand the importance of education and the affordability of it--making it accessible to every American. But that is the point I want to make here. We held a pretty interesting hearing in our Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and we really took a look at these student loan programs and the potential effect on the affordability of college. In testimony today, we certainly found out that the student loan program has exploded over the last 20 years, from a level of about $100 billion in 1994 to now $1.3 trillion. On average, students graduating with a 4-year degree are about $29,000 in debt.…”