Issues of the Day
Floor Speech
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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, President Biden is once again circumventing the rule of law and leaving hardworking Americans who never went to college with a $559 billion bill to cover unpaid student loans.
House Republicans will bring to the floor H.J. Res. 88 expressing our disapproval of President Biden's Saving on a Valuable Education, SAVE, plan which would drastically alter the Income-Driven Repayment program and make America's student loan program even more expensive for taxpayers. Let's be clear: This sets the precedent that Federal education loans do not need to be repaid.
Using American tax dollars to give a blanket subsidy to those who earn disproportionately more money than others is government at its worst. For those who never went to college, for those who are struggling with inflation and don't need more money flooding into a broken system, and for those who already paid off their loans, any effort to wipe the slate clean is completely unfair.
I, along with many other House Republicans, support universities focusing on a strong ROI to keep costs down. We support Federal student loan reforms. We do not support blanket student loan forgiveness for political pandering in an election year.
Even though the system has plenty of room to improve, it is my job to highlight ways the State of Utah is getting it right. Utah has the lowest average student loan debt per borrower in the country and the lowest percentage of graduates leaving campus with student debt. The University of Utah's medical school and nursing program at Weber State University work to hold down student debt by designing instructional schedules to allow students to work while attending college.
I have had to apologize multiple times to constituents in the First District who built businesses after paying their way through school or other programming and paid their taxes, only to have their hard-earned dollars transferred to folks who have chosen a career and a different approach that required carrying some debt that they planned for.
Now, with the government saying they don't need to plan for it, we are teaching our children the exact wrong thing that made our country so great. I am deeply frustrated that I am going to have to continue to apologize.
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