WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) congratulated Sallie Mae on obtaining significant new business which will likely require additional employees to address student loan servicing needs.  Congressman Kanjorski strongly urges Sallie Mae to hire more employees at the company's facility in Hanover Township, particularly to rehire those that were laid off, as that facility does a majority of the student loan servicing for the company.  Salle Mae recently purchased $28 billion of securitized federal student loans and other assets from a subsidiary of Citibank.   After the transaction, the company will have 1.3 million new customers and will need to hire more employees to assist with the increased workload.  It will also manage or service about $200 billion in federal student loans.

"Since I first joined Congress, one of my top priorities has been to create and save jobs in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and that goal will not waver," said Congressman Kanjorski.  "It is reasonable to believe that some of these new positions will be filled at Sallie Mae's facility in Hanover Township since so much of the company's loan servicing activities take place at that location.  I strongly encourage Sallie Mae to rehire its former employees that were, unfortunately, laid off.  We face difficult economic times, and we must work to maintain solid jobs in Northeastern Pennsylvania to help the many unemployed workers and families that are struggling.  I am doing everything that I can to encourage Sallie Mae to move in the right direction by bringing many of these jobs to Northeastern Pennsylvania and rehiring some of its former employees in the area."

A report by the Buckingham Research Group, which was commissioned by Sallie Mae, states that Sallie Mae's purchase of the new student loans will help them to work to rectify many of the layoffs that occurred at some of their facilities, which should include Hanover Township.  Sallie Mae expects the transaction to close by the end of 2010.

In previous months, Congressman Kanjorski had expressed his strong disappointment with the U.S. Department of Education for not preventing job losses at Sallie Mae's facility in Hanover Township, and with Sallie Mae for deciding to cut jobs at its servicing center in Northeastern Pennsylvania even though it continues to service loans at the facility and nationwide.

Click here to view Congressman Kanjorski's statement for the Congressional Record on the health care reform legislation.  In it, he states that he was, "greatly disturbed when the student loan legislation was hastily attached to the health care reform bill at the last minute because of the impact it would have on the 1,100 Sallie Mae workers in my district...Education Secretary Arne Duncan assured me that he will use all of the tools at his disposal to help ensure that these workers will remain employed." 

Congressman Kanjorski voted against H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, which passed the House in September 2009.  Click here to view his statement on H.R. 3221. 

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Click here to view a letter from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Congressman Kanjorski from March 20, 2010 stating that the U.S. Department of Education will work to help preserve the jobs at Sallie Mae's facility in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  Click here to view a press release from Sallie from September 17 announcing the new business.