Pro-Kline Lit Piece Misleading at Best, Obermueller Calls for Meaningful Student Debt Reform

Press Release

Second congressional district candidate Mike Obermueller released the following statement regarding a recent pro-John Kline direct mail piece relating to student loan interest rates:

"It's not surprising that Congressman Kline and his allies would want to obscure the truth about Kline's record on student loans. He has been a reliable vote against the best interests of students since taking office more than a decade ago.

"The bill referenced in the recent flyer will undoubtedly result in significant increases in the interest rates that students pay over time. It failed to address rising costs in college education or the transparency required to make sure students get value for their education dollars. It contains no help for students who already have student loans and want to refinance their loans to take advantage of the current low interest rates.

"While this law is marginally better than Kline's original proposal, which would have doubled student loan interest rates, this law has clearly distracted Congress from the meaningful reform we actually need - reform that Congressman Kline has been actively avoiding since he became chair of the House education committee.

"Students should not be a profit center for the federal government. Allowing obscenely high interest rates, like Kline's bill does, is certainly not the answer to our country's student debt woes.

"We need to be making sure our students have real tools to make college affordable. That means allowing students to refinance their student loans, ensuring interest rates aren't used as a profit making device for the federal government, and making college more affordable on the front end.

"While Kline may have authored a bill regarding student loan interest rates that happened to be signed into law, it takes an artful rewriting of history to paint him as a friend to students. I will always be looking out for our young people's best interests when I represent our district in Congress."

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