Political Quotes

“I rise this morning in strong opposition to the legislation which I assume is coming to the floor today which, if passed, would be a disaster for the young people of our country who are looking forward to going to college and for their parents who are helping them pay their bills. Our job is to improve the dismal situation in terms of college affordability and the indebtedness of young people in this country, to improve that situation, to make it better, not to make it worse, and that is exactly what this proposed legislation would do. I ask for support from my colleagues for an amendment I have filed that would provide a 2-year sunset to this bill, an approach that would prevent student interest rates from soaring and allow us the time, through the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, to deal with this problem through a constructive long-term solution. This issue is too important to be rushed through this body without hearings, without listening to the people who will be affected by this bill--the millions of young people who wish to go to college, who do not want to leave school in deep debt, and their parents as well. We should be listening to them, not rushing this bill through today. I thank Senators Leahy, Whitehouse, Gillibrand, and Schatz for their cosponsorship of this amendment. I look forward to widespread support from my colleagues.…”