Students Pay for Tax Cuts for the Rich
Kucinich gave the following speech in Congress on February 1, 2006:
Speaking during debate on H. Res. 653, providing for concurrence with Senate amendment to the House amendment to S. 1932, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006, Congressman Kucinich said:
"Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today cuts approximately $12 billion from the federal student programs. Under this bill, the tax cuts for the super-rich are placed on the backs of students and their families. Under this bill, student borrowers -- already saddled with $17,500 in debt -- will be forced to pay even more for his or her college loans.
"The bill raises student loan interest rate caps and raises student loan taxes and fees. It places billions of dollars in student aid at risk by cutting $2.2 billion in critical funds used to carry out and administer the student aid programs.
"Some of the excessive subsidies to large lending institutions are finally cut but no protections are put in place to ensure that students will not have those costs passed on to to them as well. Rather than reinvesting those dollars into low-interest loans and additional grants, this bill uses the money for alleged deficit reduction.
"This bill is a travesty. It masquerades as a budget reconciliation, but is truly a tax cut for the wealthy paid for by students. The Higher Education Act was intended to help provide all Americans, regardless of their income-level, with greater educational opportunities. The Act recognizes the shared benefits, by both society and the individual, of a higher education. But instead of working to further those goals, the changes to student loan programs that we are faced with today undermine the goal of HEA.
"We must make it clear that we place students above tax cuts for the wealthy and defeat this bill. I urge my colleagues to stand with me and oppose H. Res. 653."
[Ed. note: H. Res. 653 was agreed to by recorded vote: 216 - 214 (Roll No. 4).]
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