Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Smarter Solutions for Students Act, also known as the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act. I commend Chairman Kline; our Education Subcommittee chairwoman, Ms. Foxx; Ranking Member Miller; and others for their hard work and diligence throughout this process of getting this bill where it is today.

I am pleased that cooler heads have prevailed and Senate Democrats finally have agreed to the commonsense solutions proposed months ago by House Republicans and the President in his budget to stop interest rates on student loans from doubling. This is a good deal for 11 million students. The rates are better in this agreement. Students will save an estimated $1,500 in interest over the life of their college loans as a result.

Those beneficiaries include more than 200,000 students in Indiana alone, who will be taking out their student loans this year. It will help young people like John Houston, a Ball State University student and intern in my office this summer, who will be taking out student loans as he heads back to school this fall. Getting Congress out of the business of randomly setting interest rates is a good deal--both for students like John and taxpayers.

The bill will allow students to benefit from lower interest rates and prevent taxpayers from being forced to subsidize arbitrary rates set by politicians for political reasons rather than for policy purposes. Maybe most importantly, Mr. Speaker, this legislation shows that, even in a challenging partisan environment, Congress can come together and work on behalf of the American people to make their lives a little easier. I hope this agreement builds momentum for reaching bipartisan solutions to other problems that our Nation faces.

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