Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, Senate Democrats announced our commitment to end the crushing burden of student loan debt. Our campaign is called ``In the Red'' because we agree with what President Obama said during his final State of the Union: ``No hard-working student should be stuck in the red.''

My special guest at President Obama's final State of the Union address highlighted exactly this point. Alexis Ploss is a student at UMass Lowell. She is a first-generation college student working on a degree in math. She wants to get a master's degree so she can become a public school teacher, but she has already taken on over $50,000 in student loan debt.

Think about that, smart, hard-working students who want to build a future for themselves and who want to teach the next generation of kids are weighing the benefits of more education against the fear of an unmanageable debt load.

I don't think Alexis will quit, but I want my Republican colleagues to explain to me how America is any better off if a young woman doesn't get a master's degree and become a first-rate math teacher. How is this country any better off if young people get scared by debt, quit school, and take a job that requires less education?

What Alexis and hundreds of thousands of other people like her end up doing will be affected by decisions we make right in this room. If Congress does nothing, then Alexis and hundreds of thousands of other students just get squeezed harder. The debts get bigger, they grow faster, and the decision to give up is just a little closer.

Seventy percent of students now need to borrow money in order to make it through school. Democrats are here to say: Enough is enough, and that is what this ``In the Red'' campaign is all about. The Democratic plan has two basic parts: debt-free college and refinancing student loans.

There are a lot of ways to get to debt-free college. We can give students the opportunity to graduate from community college without student debt by making it completely tuition free. We can increase Pell grants. We can hold colleges accountable for keeping costs low and providing a high-quality education that will help students get ahead.

We can also cut the outstanding debt. Some student loans are charging 6 percent, 8 percent, 10 percent, and even higher interest rates. We could cut those interest rates right now. Democrats are ready to go, but the Republicans are blocking us every step of the way. Instead of lowering the cost of student loans, they support the status quo, where the U.S. Government turns young people who are trying to get an education into profit centers to bring in more revenue for the Federal Government.

In fact, Congress has set interest rates so high on loans that just one slice of those loans--those issued from 2007 to 2012--are now on target to make $66 billion in profits for the U.S. Government. This is obscene. The Federal Government should be helping students get an education, not making a profit off their backs.

The main response from Republicans in Congress has been to claim that refinancing wouldn't save students that much money. Really? There are more than 40 million people currently dealing with student loan debt. When their interest rates are cut, many will save hundreds of dollars a year and some will save thousands of dollars a year. That is money that can help someone out of a hole or money to save for a downpayment on a home or money to pay off those student loans faster--but Republicans say that money is trivial? What comes next? Do Republicans say let them eat cake?

Where are all those Republicans who think Washington takes too much of our money? These artificially high interest rates are a tax we impose on students to fund government, a tax that keeps hard-working young people from buying homes, from starting businesses or for from saving for retirement.

The Republicans may not want to tax billionaires or Fortune 500 corporations, but evidently they don't mind squeezing students who have to borrow money to pay for college.

For 2 years now, Democrats have tried to get a bill through Congress to lower the interest rate on student loans, and for 2 years the Republicans have blocked this bill. As the Republicans have said no, hardworking people who are just trying to build a life have paid and paid and paid.

So I am here to ask the Republicans: What is your idea? What is your plan for how to deal with existing student loan debt? Democrats have put a proposal on the table to make college affordable, but I don't hear anything from the Republicans except ``no, no, no.'' Well, it is time for change--debt-free college and lower interest rates on student loans. That is what Senate Democrats are fighting for, and together that is what we are going to win.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source