As a member of the House Committee
on Education and the Workforce, I stand with Leader Gephardt in strong
opposition to the Bush Administration proposal to cut student loans by
$1.3 billion.
By denying students and graduates the opportunity to consolidate loans
with a low interest rate, the Administration is weakening our national
commitment to higher education. This measure will have an especially
detrimental impact on minority students, many of whom come from less affluent
families and must rely more heavily on loans to finance their college education.
As a result of the excessive tax cuts they pushed for wealthy Americans
and large corporations, this Administration has squandered the budget surplus
built up under the economic policies of former President Clinton.
Now, in order to pay for that tax cut and deal with the deficit they created,
the Bush Administration is targeting millions of lower and middle class
students. I strongly oppose this punitive measure and urge my colleagues
to reject it also.
