Ranking Member Cassidy on CRA to Overturn President Biden’s Newest Student Loan Scheme
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, spoke on the Senate floor on his Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn President Biden’s reckless income-driven repayment (IDR) rule, which will result in a majority of bachelor’s degree student loan borrowers not having to pay back even the principal on their loans, costing taxpayers as much as $559 billion. Earlier today, Cassidy introduced the CRA resolution with U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD), John Cornyn (R-TX), and 14 Republican colleagues.
On June 30th, President Biden announced the final IDR rule following the U.S. Supreme Court?ruling to block his illegal student debt scheme that attempted to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt onto taxpayers.
“Just like Biden’s student debt cancelation scheme that was overturned by the Supreme Court, this reckless policy does not ‘forgive’ debt,” said Dr. Cassidy. “It transfers the burden of $559 billion in federal student loans from those who willingly took out loans for college in order to make more money when they graduated, to Americans who never attended college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans.”
“These policies are as unfair as they are irresponsible. Where is the forgiveness for the guy who didn’t go to college but is working to pay off the loan on the truck he takes to work? What about the woman who paid off her student loans, but is now struggling to afford her mortgage? Is the administration providing them relief? Of course not,” continued Dr. Cassidy. “Instead, the administration would have them pay not only their bills, but the bills of those who decided to go to college in order to make more money.”
Additionally, Cassidy highlighted his Lowering Education Costs and Debt Act, a package of five bills aimed at directly addressing the issues driving the skyrocketing cost of higher education and the increasing amounts of debt students take on to attend school.
Click here to watch Cassidy’s full speech.
Cassidy’s speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:
Mr. President
Today, we introduced a Congressional Review Act, Resolution of Disapproval to overturn the Biden administration’s newest student loan scheme, Income Driven Repayment. Just like Biden’s student debt cancelation scheme that was overturned by the Supreme Court, this reckless policy does not “forgive” debt. It transfers the burden of $559 billion in federal student loans from those who willingly took out loans for college in order to make more money when they graduated, to Americans who never attended college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans.
Under this rule, a majority of bachelor’s degree student loan borrowers will not be expected to pay back even the principal on their loans. Additionally, 91 percent of new student debt would be eligible for reduced payments, subsidized by the taxpayers.
These policies are as unfair as they are irresponsible. Where is the forgiveness for the guy who didn’t go to college but is working to pay off the loan on the truck he takes to work? What about the woman who paid off her student loans, but is now struggling to afford her mortgage? Is the administration providing them relief? Of course not. Instead, the administration would have them pay not only their bills, but the bills of those who decided to go to college in order to make more money.
This resolution prevents average Americans, 87 percent of whom currently have no student loans, from being stuck with a policy that the administration is pushing not to be fair to all, but rather to favor the few.
The Supreme Court has already established the President does not have the authority to cancel hundreds of billions in student loans without direct consent from Congress. It is clear President Biden is trying to deflect the political fallout of the false promises that he never had the legal authority to make.
President Biden’s plan does nothing to address the problems that created the debt in the first place. It doesn’t hold colleges or universities accountable for rising costs. According to the College Board, in the last 30 years, tuition and fees have jumped at private non-profit colleges by 80 percent. At public four-year institutions, they’ve jumped by 124 percent.
The Biden administration has refused to propose any solutions that actually address the underlying problems that created the debt crisis in the first place. We cannot spend our way out of the problem of the ever-increasing costs of higher education. We need real solutions.
That is why my colleagues and I introduced the Lowering Education Costs and Debt Act, a package of five bills aimed at directly addressing the issues driving the skyrocketing cost of higher education and the increasing amounts of debt students take on to attend school.
Our legislation puts downward pressure on tuition and empowers students to make the educational decisions that put them on track to academically and financially succeed.
It also simplifies the student loan borrowing and repayment process, so students don’t take out more loans than they need and can navigate the student loan process without confusion.
Unlike Biden’s student loan schemes, these are commonsense solutions that actually address the root causes of the student debt crisis. In fact, some of the bills included in the package already have strong support from both Republicans and Democrats.
President Biden’s student loan schemes are not a fix, they are merely a band aid that forces taxpayers to shoulder the responsibility of paying off someone else’s debt. We need strong leadership to address this issue.
Biden’s failure to address rising tuition rates won’t hurt the rich, only the middle and lower-income Americans who will continue to be punished, forced to take out more and more loans just to get an education.
I will close by urging all my colleagues to support my Congressional Review Act resolution to prevent Biden’s reckless student loan scheme, and to work together on real solutions to tackle the rising cost and debt of students. If we don’t act, students will continue to drown in debt without a path for success.
Thank you.
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