Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act-Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
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Mr. REID. Mr. President, this is landmark legislation. I so compliment Senators Sanders and McCain for coming to this agreement. I hope we can move this bill expeditiously.
BOULWARE NOMINATION
Later today the Senate will vote to confirm a man by the name of Richard Boulware to be a district court trial judge for the State of Nevada. A remarkable man he is, extremely smart, and he is a very talented lawyer from Las Vegas. His father was the first neurologist to come to Las Vegas--a fine man--and his mom was very politically active in a lot of matters for so many years.
Richard F. Boulware has impeccable credentials. He grew up in Las Vegas and attended Harvard University. He went out on his own after graduating from Harvard. He had a consultancy, and he was watching the impeachment proceeding that took place of President Clinton and he said to himself: I should be involved in understanding this stuff more. So he applied to Columbia. It wasn't a walk in the park for him to go. It was extremely expensive. But he is so smart. He got scholarships almost all the way. He graduated very high in his class at Columbia.
Upon graduation, he worked at Covington & Burling in New York, one of the premier law firms in the country. He also became a Federal public defender in New York. Since 2007 he has been a Federal public defender in Nevada. If confirmed, Richard Boulware will become the first African American man to serve on the U.S. district court in Nevada.
I had the pleasure and good fortune to put the first woman on the Federal bench in Nevada. She was a black woman. She was so good. Her name is Johnnie Rawlinson. She was so good that in a very short period of time she was elevated to become a member of the Ninth Circuit. During Obama's presidency, she has always been on the short list.
Richard Boulware will be just as good as any member of that bench we have in Nevada. I am impressed with his dedication to the State of Nevada. He has already distinguished himself as a public servant. So I look forward to his confirmation today.
STUDENT LOANS
Mr. President, we have all seen the old cowboy western movies that saw some unfortunate character getting into quicksand--either pushed or fallen--and they try everything they can to get him out. It is always the same scene in the movies. An unsuspecting person winds up in quicksand, panics, flails around, and each time he does that he gets deeper and deeper into this earthy liquid.
Fortunately, a hero always comes to the rescue. Sometimes it is with a rope or branch or something to pull him out of the quicksand to safety. That happens once in a while but not very often in real life.
In America today millions of Americans are caught in financial quicksand and looking for a helping hand to pull them to safety. About 45 million Americans have student loans. As their debt mounts, they sink deeper and deeper into financial hardship. There is more student debt today than there is credit card debt.
These Americans who have these loans are trying their best to make good on their student loans. They are working multiple jobs, pinching pennies. But even the slightest hiccup can plunge them into financial ruin.
The Bank on Student Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, introduced by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken, is a lifeline. Just like people being stuck in the quicksand in those movies, people are stuck in the quicksand in real life with student debt. The bill would provide graduates who are now beholden to higher interest rates with a 2-year period to refinance current student loans at 3.86 percent.
This legislation would allow more than 25 million Americans to refinance expensive student loans. In Nevada, more than 250,000 student loan borrowers would save thousands and thousands of dollars in interest rate fees by refinancing at current rates.
But the problem of mounting student loans is not limited to individual borrowers. It is a problem that threatens our entire economy. I had a call yesterday with a bunch of college students in Nevada. They can't get married, they are living with their parents, and they are struggling. Is it worth it for me to go to college? I spent time trying to convince them that it was and it is.
Student loan debt now exceeds far more than $1 trillion--approaching $1.3 trillion. That is more than credit card or auto loan debt. As of last September, 40 percent of student loan borrowers were in default, forbearance or deferment. Yet even as many Americans make loan payments on time, the staggering amount of those installments precludes young Americans from buying houses, beginning families or going into business. The legislation before the Senate will give borrowers a fair shot in investing in their families and their financial well-being. As young Americans are able to purchase new homes and invest in their futures, it will inject much-needed capital into our economy.
Unfortunately, not all Senators agree that allowing borrowers to refinance their student loans is a good idea. I was disappointed to learn my colleague the Republican leader doesn't support this legislation. It wasn't long ago that he referred to this proposal we are taking up here today dealing with student loan debt--$1.2 trillion or $1.3 trillion debt and 45 million people it affects--he called it a fake fight.
For 25 million Americans, or even more, who stand to benefit from this bill, I assure my friend there is nothing fake about helping working families pay off debt and save money.
I so admire what the President did yesterday. He said that if you are continuing to refuse to legislate--and we know there has been obstruction after filibuster after obstruction after filibuster. The President said before the American people he was going to do everything he could administratively. Yesterday he did. What he did isn't as good as what we are doing, but he did what he could to help 5 million students with their debt. So to a single mother working two jobs just to take care of her family, make a student loan payment on time, this legislation is real. But instead, the Republican leader has reaffirmed his commitment to the status quo. Why reform today when he and his tea party-driven members said they will reform next year or maybe the next year?
We Democrats aren't standing around waiting for a new year or a new Congress to tackle the problem of student loan debt. It is real. We are anxious to extend a helping hand to the more than 40 million Americans who are fighting to keep their heads above water, trying to get out of the quicksand.
So let's come to the aid of those individuals struggling with student loan debt and keep them from sinking deeper and deeper into financial quicksand.
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