Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008

Floor Speech

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Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5715, the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act. I especially want to thank Chairman George Miller and ranking member Buck McKeon and all the others who have worked with us to be able to resolve the challenge of access and affordability to higher education to all those who wish to go to that level of education.

This is urgent legislation, and I thank the leadership in both the House and the Senate for ensuring its swift passage. We are all united in our commitment to provide every assurance to students and families that there will be no disruption in the Federal student loan programs, regardless of what is happening in the financial markets in our country.

As of today, no student has been unable to find a lender for a Federal student loan. However, we are not going to wait until students and families are denied loans before putting safeguards in place. Today is the day that many incoming freshman students must decide which college they will attend in the fall. Financial aid is a critical consideration for that decision process. We can leave no doubt in the minds of students, families or campuses about the availability of that aid. That is why we must send this legislation to the President for his signature without delay.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation will provide much-needed liquidity to the student loan marketplace by authorizing the Secretary of Education on a temporary basis to purchase student loans so that lenders have the funds to make new loans. The legislation clarifies the lender-of-last-resort option so that, if called upon, guaranty agencies will be able to fulfill their role as lender of last resort as required under the Higher Education Act.

The legislation will reduce the reliance on private loans to fill the gap between Federal student aid and the cost of college by increasing the amount a student can borrow in the unsubsidized loan program.

This contingency plan for the student loan marketplace will come at no cost to the taxpayers. In fact, any savings that may be generated will be directed to the Academic Competitiveness and SMART grants that are available to needy students who complete a rigorous program of study in high school and those students who are pursuing majors in high-need fields, such as science, engineering, technology and foreign languages.

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Mr. HINOJOSA. Finally, with H.R. 5715 we are signaling that we will bring all of our tools to the task of guaranteeing access to student loans. This legislation also calls upon Treasury and our Federal financial institutions to do their share to ensure that there is sufficient capital in the Federal student loan marketplace.

I urge all my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this critical stopgap legislation.

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