Washington D.C. – House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) released the following statement regarding the doubling of subsidized Stafford loan interest rates due to the failure of Senate Democrats to act:
“Today, interest rates on new federally subsidized undergraduate Stafford Loans doubled from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent as a direct result of Senate Democrats failing to take action. In May of this year, House Republicans passed the Smarter Solutions for Students Act which would prevent a drastic rate hike and institute market-based reforms similar to the President’s own plan. Leader Reid and Senate Democrats are letting intra-party politics and partisanship stand in the way of preventing interest rates from doubling for students across the country. It’s shameful, and it’s time for it to stop. I urge Leader Reid to take up the sensible House-passed legislation in order to provide students and their families with certainty.”