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Source: U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), 7/19/13
After much discussion and hard work I am pleased to announce that a bipartisan group that I am a part of was able to come together to score a big victory for 100% of students and borrowers. Along with Senators Manchin, King, Coburn, Carper, Harkin, Alexander, and Durbin, I introduced the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act yesterday. This bipartisan compromise puts in place a sustainable, market-based solution that ensures access and affordability for students seeking to improve their lives through higher education. I applaud my colleagues for their commitment to put the well-being of the American people ahead of political interests.
The Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act requires all newly-issued student loans be set to the U.S. Treasury 10-year borrowing rate plus add-ons to offset costs associated with defaults, collections, deferments, forgiveness, and delinquency. The resulting interest rates for loans taken out this year, after July 1, 2013, would be 3.86% for subsidized and unsubsidized loans for undergraduate students, 5.41% on unsubsidized loans for graduate students, and 6.41% on PLUS loans for parents and graduate students. These rates would apply retroactively to newly issued loans taken out after July 1, 2013. The interest rate would be fixed over the life of the loan to provide borrowers with certainty to plan for the future. The Congressional Budget Office has determined this legislation would save taxpayers $715 million over ten years.
On Wednesday I joined 13 of my colleagues to introduce the Federal Employee Accountability Act, a bill that would reduce “official time” for government employees. Under the practice of “official time” federal employees can be paid by taxpayers to complete duties that are not related to the mission of their agency, allowing in some cases for employees to perform union-related activities – some even full time – while on the taxpayers’ dime. The abuse of official time by federal employees to perform union-related activities on the taxpayer dime is costly, inefficient, and unfair to the American people. With our country buried in debt, this bill is a very common-sense measure to ensure that these types of wasteful practices no longer occur.
This week the Senate voted on the confirmation of several of President Obama’s Executive Branch nominees including Richard Cordray, candidate for Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). While Mr. Cordray may be a qualified candidate, I have always held the stance that I would not support the consideration of any nominee, regardless of party, to be the CFPB Director until the structure of the CFPB has been reformed. My concerns and the concerns of many of my colleagues have been ignored, and no reforms were made to check the unlimited authority of the CFPB. As a result of this inaction, I voted against Mr. Cordray’s nomination
Tom Perez’s confirmation was also voted on this week -- as I have said in the past, I have many concerns regarding Mr. Perez, including his disclosure of non-public information and refusal to comply with a Congressional subpoena, and therefore voted against his nomination as Labor Secretary.
Sincerely,
Richard Burr
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