September 17, 2009 Thornberry Votes ‘No’ on H.R. 3221, The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act

Says Government-Run Program Will be Bad For Students, Families, and Jobs WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Congressman Mac Thornberry today issued the following statement after voting ‘no’ on H.R. 3221, “The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act,” a bill that replaces the long standing and respected  Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) with government-run lending directly from the U.S. Treasury: “For more than 40 years, the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) has provided over 200 million loans and countless young men and women with the opportunity to pursue higher education with very little cost to families. Abolishing this program will be bad for students, bad for schools, and bad for jobs. Government only lending will provide the bare minimum in services to students and families, while adding layers of bureaucratic red-tape and stacks of additional paperwork,” Congressman Thornberry said. The bill takes away a program that benefits millions and replaces it with a government-run program that will leave families with zero options. Because the private sector loan program offers schools and students a choice of lenders, the private lenders compete for business. This competition has lowered the cost of student loans and improved service to both students and schools. “The Democratic Majority in Congress is once again forcing a government takeover of private industry. They will kill 35,000 jobs in the student loan industry in the process. As the father of two college-age children, I know the cost of raising a family today is higher than ever, and I am dismayed that they will leave parents with no choice beyond a Washington bureaucracy to borrow money for their college-bound children. “A college degree has become the cornerstone of the American dream and opens the door to job opportunities and professional fulfillment. Yet, even after financial aid is taken into account, Americans find it increasingly difficult to pay for college, and graduates find themselves burdened with high levels of debt. Removing choice in the student loan market in this time of economic unrest could have major consequences,” Congressman Thornberry concluded.