Politics & Government

Joe Courtney Wants Vote to Stop Student Loan Rates From Doubling

New London's U.S. representative says if the House doesn't vote student loan rates could double, putting immense financial pressure on students and their families.

Congressman Joe Courtney has filed a procedural motion to force a vote in the U.S. House on a proposal to keep student loan rates from doubling.

The move comes just 10 legislative days before student loan interest rates could double for more than 7 million students and their families.

“Across the country today, rapidly-accumulating student loan debt threatens not just individual families but the underpinnings of our economic recovery,” Courtney said. “Rather than confronting the problem head-on, House Republicans offered a bill ... claiming to help students, but, in fact, making the situation worse. We owe it to our young people and the next generation of workers to get the job done.”

Courtney filed a discharge petition — a procedural motion that frees up a bill that has been blocked in a congressional committee — on H.R. 1595 today. Last month, House Republicans pushed through legislation to make college more expensive for students and families, forcing them into loans with skyrocketing interest rates that fluctuate year by year, further compounding the student debt crisis.

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The discharge petition would require a straightforward, up-or-down vote on a bill authored by Courtney to extend current low interest rates on subsidized Stafford student loans for two years and allow Congress time to consider long-term, comprehensive solutions on rising college costs.

Republicans have blocked consideration of any bill that would provide student loan debt relief, insisting that students be taxed higher interest rates to pay down the deficit, Courtney said.

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