The Hill
GOP Rep. Jenkins: Democratic inaction caused student loan interest rate hike
By Daniel Strauss
07/06/13  

Jenkins's call, in the weekly Republican address, came a week after the interest rates doubled when Congress failed to come to a deal extending the 3.4-percent interest rate. 

"Republicans made every effort to stop interest rates on some student loans from doubling, as they unnecessarily did on July 1st," Jenkins said. "For too long, politicians have been in charge of setting these rates, and we keep coming back to cliffs and deadlines like this one. Paying for college is difficult enough without all this uncertainty. I have two kids in college, I know how hard it can be." 

Republicans, the White House and Senate Democrats had all pushed proposals to keep the rate from doubling. But each plan differed. Republicans and the Obama administration wanted to tie the interest rates to Treasury bond rates, which would let the rates fluctuate along with the economy. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, sought to simply extend the 3.4 percent rate for at least another year. Lawmakers were not able to reconcile their differences and last Monday the rate doubled. 

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