Congresswoman McCollum's Statement on the Interest Rate Reduction Act, H.R. 4628

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 4628, which places partisan politics ahead of America's students and the health of Minnesota communities.

If Congress does not act by July 1, interest rates on student loans will double for 7 million American students. This is a financial crisis for these students and their families, who will be forced to pay an additional $1000 this year in loan repayment costs. America's college students are already graduating with an average debt burden of $25,000 – higher than any time in our nation's history. President Obama and Democrats in Congress are committed to lowering the costs of college and have introduced legislation to block this impending rate increase.

For months, Republicans in Congress have completely ignored this problem. The fiscal year 2013 budget that House Republicans adopted in March did not include a fix for skyrocketing student loan rate increase, but it did provide millionaires and billionaires an average tax cut of $400,000. The Republican Chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee – my colleague from Minnesota – opposed extending the current low interest rate as recently as last week. On April 20, The New York Times reported Chairman Kline saying a fix would be "too costly" and that "we must choose between allowing interest rates to rise or piling billions of dollars on the backs of taxpayers."

Thankfully, House Republicans ended their opposition to lower student loan rates this week under pressure from President Obama and millions of American students. The majority introduced H.R. 4628 to extend the current 3.4 percent interest rate on federal Stafford loans for an additional year at a cost of $6.3 billion. Unfortunately, House Republicans are cynically choosing to offset the costs of H.R. 4628 by repealing the Prevention and Public Health Fund created by the new health care reform law. Cutting health care for millions of Americans to prevent rising student loan rates is an unacceptable and unnecessary choice.

Minnesota communities rely on this Fund to pay for cancer detection, childhood immunizations, newborn screening and other critical health care services that help to keep our communities healthy and save our country billions in long-term health care costs. Women in Minnesota will be disproportionally impacted due to the loss of access to services such as breast and cervical cancer screening. Nearly 800 community organizations across the country oppose H.R. 4628 because of these damaging cuts, including the American Lung Association, American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, the Association of Maternal and Child Health, and the National Association of County and City Health Officials. The White House opposes H.R. 4628 and told the House Republican majority to expect a veto from President Obama. This partisan legislation will only further delay a solution for students.

Democrats in Congress have a plan to protect students against rising loan costs without adding to deficits or harming communities. I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 4816, which prevents the doubling of interest rates on student loans and offsets the costs by eliminating wasteful taxpayer subsidies for the five biggest oil corporations that are making record profits. This legislation is a win for students and a win for American taxpayers. H.R. 4816 reflects the priorities of the American people and creates a path for bipartisan consensus.

I urge my colleges to reject H.R. 4628 and, instead, pass the common-sense alternative offered by House Democrats.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back my time.