Student Loan Debt
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I am going to be very brief, and I will come back tomorrow to speak at greater length.
One of the things Americans know is that college is becoming more of a necessity and is getting to be priced like more of a luxury. We can't have that. When college is a ticket to success--not just income success but even recent surveys show longevity and happiness--it is a crying shame when any American deserves to go to college but doesn't go or doesn't go to the right college because he or she can't afford it. We aim to change that in a variety of ways, but the one Senator Warren has talked about and taken the lead on is in terms of refinancing.
It is absolutely outrageous that students who got out of college in the last 5 to 20 years are paying 8 percent, 9 percent, and up to 13 percent in interest. If they took out a loan today, they would pay 3 percent or 4 percent. This puts huge burdens on their shoulders in their prime earning years and their family-forming years. It crimps the housing market because if you have $30,000 in student loans, you are not likely to take out a $100,000 mortgage.
So all we are asking for is a fair shot. If you deserve to go to college, you should have a fair shot at affording college. And if you have gone to college, you should have a fair shot at being able to pay your debts and live a decent life. It is very simple.
We Democrats are focusing our attention on what the average American needs, giving the average American a fair shot. And there is probably no place where that fair shot is less attainable than in college affordability and in acquired student loan debt.
I hope people will listen to us in the next several weeks. I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--unlike on minimum wage or equal pay--will join us in coming up with a bipartisan proposal. I hope we can do something for these students--those who have already gone to college and are paying disproportionate interest and those who are going to college and need to afford it. Everyone deserves a fair shot in America, and they certainly deserve a fair shot, if they have earned a place in college, to afford that place in college.
I look forward to continuing this discussion and debate in the next several weeks to come.
I yield the floor.
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