Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this amendment gets at the issue of the student loan program and what this bill would propose to do to that program. Under this bill, students in this country would have one option to get a student loan--the Federal Government. Today, there are 2,000 lenders across this country that make student loans. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal pointed out that the shift to government lending would mean lending would now be operated by the Department of Education, which is ``distinguished in its Soviet-style customer service.'' There are 30,000 to 35,000 jobs in this country that are associated with the student loan program. At a time of record-high unemployment levels, we need to ensure that moving student lending to the Department of Education does not place more Americans on unemployment. As our economy recovers, we should be focused on ways to increase jobs in the private sector, not ending those positions in favor of adding more government bureaucrats in Washington. This amendment would require the Secretary of Education to certify that no State would experience a net job loss as a result of the Federal Family Education Student Loan Program being terminated. I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?”