I think that there is a real frustration among the private sector when the federal government tells them what is best for them yet doesn't live by the same rules.

It is very easy for us to be cavalier up here when we talk about federal government or federal loans.

I graduated medical school in 1991 with $120,000 in debt. My lowest interest on my loan was 9 percent. My highest was 18 percent.

There aren't federal loans; there are taxpayer loans. We are paying these loans and we should be able to get a return on investment.

This ship is sinking because of mismanagement and educational institutions continue to raise costs because we continue to throw money at that.

Student loans have almost become an entitlement and as Mr. Draeger said, I don't think we are educating students.

There are so many things about this issue that are troubling to me and I feel like we have just been kind of missing the point as we talk about what the federal government should do, what the interest rates should be, and that is just the personal responsibility of the students.

Pell grants just 6 years ago helped 5 million students at the cost of $12 billion. Now we are helping 9 million students at the cost of $43 billion.

This is an issue of top concern to my constituents in Tennessee's 4th Congressional District.

Penalizing people for working is not compassionate. We need to rethink and restructure the way we administer our social safety nets so that we are actually empowering people rather than dooming them to dependency.

We need to promote a society that promotes accountability and responsibility, and we are getting away from that.