I know where I stand. I'm joining 24 of my colleagues --
including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Barbara Boxer, Sherrod Brown, and Kirsten
Gillibrand -- to co-sponsor the Bank
on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act.
We're fixing a glaring problem with student loan interest rates
that's currently hurting young Americans. And we'll pay for this bill by
implementing the Buffett Rule, my legislation that requires
multi-million-dollar earners to pay a minimum federal tax rate of 30 percent.
Everyone in America striving for a college degree deserves a
fair shot at an education without crushing debt. Yet, the cost of college
has skyrocketed and middle-class incomes have remained stagnant.
We need you to stand with us before this week's vote on Senator
Elizabeth Warren's student loan bill. It's the right thing to do for
students, and it's the right thing to do to help build our country's future.
Passing this bill would mean finally implementing the Buffett
Rule, which I introduced to the Senate in 2012. It's a huge step forward for
fairness -- this bill would offer our students relief from costly loans, and
pay for the new plan by ensuring that millionaires and billionaires contribute
their fair share in taxes.
Making college affordable should be a no-brainer: there's no
reason hardworking students and their middle-class families should be paying
a higher tax rate than someone making millions of dollars a year. We should
invest in our students, not profit off of them.
When young adults shoulder loan debt, it shadows them for
decades and brings their big life decisions -- buying a home, starting a
family, launching a business -- to a grinding halt. This country can't afford
to set back an entire generation. Rewarding
hard work with loan relief is the right thing to do for students, and the
right thing to do to help build our country's future.
Last year, large bipartisan majorities agreed that federal loan
rates were far too high and voted to lower them for new borrowers -- but they
did nothing for existing borrowers, who are still paying sky-high rates on
more than $1.2 trillion in debt.
These students need our help, fast. This excessive debt burden
stands in the way of our students and the future they work so hard to
achieve.
We have a chance to bring fairness back to this system when the
Senate votes on the bill this
week, by allowing borrowers to refinance to new, lower interest
rates.
Thanks for all you do,
Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator |