Nomination of Sylvia Mathews Burwell to be Secretary of Health and Human Services - Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. MERKLEY. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

I am honored to be here joining Senator Blumenthal, Senator Durbin--Senator Baldwin is going to be here--Senator Schumer, and many others to come and address this important topic, and this topic is the college loan debt trap.

I have a letter here from Stephanie from Oregon, and she writes to me about the trap she and her husband feel they are in. She says:

I am writing to you as a potential investor into Oregon's economy and the economy of the United States. Unfortunately, however, I will not be able to be this investor until mine and my husband's Private Student Loans ..... are paid off. We owe a little less than $100,000 in ..... Student loans and pay $1,100 per month. We will pay this amount for the next 12 years. Because of our student loans and the 7-7.2% interest [rate] they are set at, we cannot afford to purchase a house in the neighborhood we love ..... cannot buy a car, and cannot even fathom starting a family. We can't even afford to go on vacation, whether that is around Oregon, or outside of that to the many other wonderful states and countries. We pay rent, utilities, and try and buy good, healthy food, but in order to even afford these basics I have to work 2 jobs at 7 days a week.

She goes on later to say:

It has been nothing but spinning in place. .....

This is a growing reality for millions of Americans who have graduated with student loan debt the size of a home mortgage and higher interest that make these huge student loans the equivalent of a millstone around their necks. When our aspiring young adults in America--who have graduated, who have gone on to start their careers--when they cannot afford to buy a house, that enhances inequality in the United States of America because home ownership is the major vehicle by which middle-class families in America establish a nest egg, establish wealth, establish a slice of the American dream. What is more joyous in life than having children, being able to raise children? That is the most tremendous, tremendous experience. But she is saying she and her husband cannot even think about starting a family.

The picture was quite different when I was graduating from high school in 1974. My father--when I was in grade school, we lived in a working-class neighborhood--had taken me to the school doors and said: Son, if you go through those doors and you work hard, you can do just about anything here in America.

Well, that was a message about the fact that there is a pathway to thrive, a pathway to fulfill your potential, a pathway to pursue your dreams, and in the process of doing that you are strengthening our entire Nation because when you aspire to your potential, when you aspire to your dreams, then you also find yourself giving back in all kinds of other ways, including having enough income to pay a Federal income tax and contribute property taxes and revenue, as well as the talents or fruits of your profession.

Well, I still live in that blue-collar community. My kids still go to the same high school I went to. But the message to our students today is very different. They are familiar with many families such as Stephanie and her husband. They are familiar with the fact that student tuition has gone up faster than virtually anything else in our society. It is a much bigger share. I think a rough estimate is about 2 1/2 times the amount in terms of a working income than it was when I was going to school, starting college. Let's make this comparison: In Germany, the cost of a year in college is around 4 percent of the median income. In the United States of America, the cost of a year in college is about 50 percent of the median income. Well, what a difference between less than $1 out of $20 and $1 out of every $2. What an incredible difference. So, at a minimum, shouldn't we be acting today to enable those who have these high-interest student loans to refinance them to a reasonable low rate? Shouldn't we be able to do that?

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Mr. MERKLEY. Thank you, Mr. President.

I will wrap up simply by saying that this is common sense. Let's lower this burden, and then let's go on and do much more: control the cost of tuition, raise the impact of Pell grants, and pursue low-interest student loans as a tool for our students from here going forward.

Mr. President, I am delighted to have had this chance to speak to a fundamental challenge to young Americans in every State of the United States of America.

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