Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues in calling for a real solution to the impending student debt crisis. Yesterday we had a chance to do the right thing and stand with millions of young Americans all across our country, to invest in their future by preventing these interest rates from doubling on Stafford loans 52 days from now. Instead, our colleagues across the aisle chose to stand in the way of a commonsense proposal. As a result, 7 million students are facing higher interest rates that will cost them each an extra $1,000 a year in interest, further pushing access to quality higher education out of reach for too many and saddling others with additional unmanageable debt when they get out of college and join the workforce.

But don't take it from me about how tough this is going to be, take it from the students and the families themselves. Just as the Presiding Officer has heard from thousands of families all across Alaska, we have been hearing the same online and through e-mail about what this would actually do to their families.

I heard from one New York parent who has a child in college and another heading there this fall. His older child spent a year in AmeriCorps, and his younger is there serving now. He said:

These kids are serving America. Both of my kids will leave college with around $25,000 in debt, if we can afford to keep it down that much.

We should all be able to agree that adding another $1,000 or more per year to the debt of kids who are only looking to serve this country, get a good education, and help rebuild this economy is wrong.

I heard from a woman in the Bronx. She has a job as a social worker, and she is on track to pay off her student loans in the next 10 or 11 years--just in time for her twin daughters to start college. She said:

Doubling my student loan interest will keep me in debt at a time when I am going to need every single penny to get my kids through college with as little debt of their own as possible. The more interest I pay, the more they'll have to borrow for their own educations, and the cycle will continue indefinitely.

I heard from a woman in Saratoga with a bachelor's degree in hotel, resort and tourism management. Despite making good money, she says that paying $800 a month in student loans on top of her everyday bills makes getting by nearly impossible. She said:

My choice is to instead decide what bill I'm going to pay this month, making me fall behind on other payments, destroying my credit in the future. If my interest rate was any higher, I honestly do not know how I would survive at all. Pretty much all the money I am making is going straight into student loans. We need all the help we can get.

These are just a few of the stories I heard yesterday. And the families expect better from us.

When we price young people out of a college education, we all are going to pay the price. When we limit their opportunity, we rob ourselves of those future engineers, biologists, and small business owners. America's ability to lead the global economy relies on our ability to outeducate the global competition.

Let's open doors to higher education to anyone who is willing to work for it, and let's keep it affordable. Let's reward hard work and responsibility instead of risk taking. There is no excuse for inaction, so let's have a real debate, in good faith, to solve this problem we all know is within our reach. Students and families all across America can't afford any more delay.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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