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Mr.
GordonWayne Watts
821 Alicia Rd
Lakeland, FL
33801-2113
Dear Mr. Watts:
Thank you
for contacting my office regarding the First Amendment and
student loan debt. I appreciate you taking the time to express
your views on these important matters and I welcome the
opportunity to respond.
As you know, the First
Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof." I am proud of my Christian faith, and mindful our
leaders - regardless of their religion - should support a
Congressional agenda premised on these principles.
When
I was sworn in for the 114th Congress, I took an oath to uphold
the Constitution of the United States, and that is a duty I take
seriously. Rest assured I will keep the rights enumerated by our
Founding Fathers in mind when presented with voting decisions in
my committee assignments, as well as in the full House of
Representatives.
Regarding student loans, students are the
foundation of our country's future. Ensuring they have the
ability to afford a college education is the first step in
preparing them to compete in an increasingly global
marketplace.
Over the past 25 years, the cost of
going to college has quadrupled. About 60% of students take out
loans to finance their education, and more than half borrow over
$10,000. In 2010-2011, 7.6 million undergraduate students
borrowed Subsidized Stafford Loans. The U.S. Department of
Education (ED) estimates over 7.4 million undergraduate students
will have borrowed Subsidized Stafford Loans in 2012-2013.
Students in the Class of 2013 graduated with an average of
$30,000 in debt.
Additionally, the issue of student debt
also affects our deficit. The Congressional Budget Office has
projected that every dollar lent in 2010 by the William D. Ford
Direct Loan Program, administered by the Department of Education,
would add 13 cents to the federal deficit. Given that the
government disbursed $27.7 billion in subsidized Stafford loans,
that 13-cents-on-the-dollar ended up costing $3.6 billion. As a
result, the Department of Education added $3.5 billion to the
federal deficit in 2010, with subsidized Stafford loans
alone.
You may be interested to know, Representative John
Kline (MN-02) introduced H.R. 1911, the Smarter Solutions for
Students Act on May 9, 2013 and seeks to set floating rates on
new Stafford loans at the 10-year Treasury rate plus 2.5%. At the
same time, it would also protect borrowers by capping the rates
at 8.5%. Under this plan, a borrower could consolidate his or her
loans after graduation to achieve a fixed rate. H.R. 1911 passed
the House, with my support, on May 23, 2013.
Following the
House passage, the Senate amended this bill, such that, as
enacted into law, it sets the annual interest rate on Stafford
loans at the rate on high-yield 10-year Treasury sets plus 2.05%,
but caps the rate at 8.25% for undergraduates. For graduate
students, this law sets interest rates at the rate on high-yield
10-year Treasury notes plus 3.6%, capped at 9.5%. This bipartisan
solution passed the Senate on July 24, 2013, by a vote of 81 to
18, and the House on July 31, 2013, with my support, in an
overwhelming vote of 392 to 31. President Barack Obama signed it
into law on August 9, 2013, making it law.
Student loans
are an essential component to making the cost of college more
affordable, which is why I lent my full support to this
measure.
Most students are now saddled with
extraordinary debt and are entering one of the weakest recoveries
in history. As the father of two sons in today's economy, I
know first-hand the important role education plays in today's
society and I will continue to work with mycolleagues on
solutions to reduce both the cost of education and the student
debt in our country.
It is an honor and a privilege
to represent constituents like you of the 15th District of
Florida. To learn more on how I may serve you, please visit
http://dennisross.house.gov. Please feel free to continue to
contact me in the future.
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