Kline gives GOP weekly address, pushes action on student loans
John Kline, the Republican congressman from Minnesota's 2nd District, gave the weekly Republican address Saturday, emphasizing the need for action on federal student loan rates.
For the third time in as many weeks, Republicans used their weekly address to push Senate Democrats and President Obama to act on federal student loan rates, which are set to double July 1 unless Congress and the president can agree on a proposal that prevents the rate hike, according to CBS News.
"As you may know, millions of student-loan borrowers could soon see their interest rates double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent," Kline said. "With time running out, the House of Representatives is the only chamber of Congress that has acted to solve this problem."
The House passed a bill in May that would peg the interest rates on federal student loans to the government's borrowing rate, allowing them to fluctuate annually, says CBS. Kline described the legislation as a "long-term solution that gets Washington out of the business of setting rates altogether."
He noted that the proposal is similar to one in Mr. Obama's budget, which would also tether student loan rates to the market but would not allow them to vary annually.
"But Senate Democrats have actively blocked the president's plan and refuse to consider ours," Kline said. "In fact, they have yet to pass a solution of any kind." Earlier in June, CBS reports, Senate Democrats failed to advance a proposal that would have kept the interest rates at 3.4 percent for an additional two years.
