US Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens, the Bronx) today voted against a Republican proposal on student loans, a highly partisan effort that would eliminate critical community preventive health care services in order to extend low interest rates on federally-subsidized student loans. Democrats have been calling for the interest rate to stay low, while Republicans recently supported a budget that would have allowed the rates to double on July 1, 2012.
Congressman Cowley said, “Today, the House of Representatives missed an opportunity to do right by millions of American students. This was an opportunity for us all to come together in a bipartisan way and ensure that college students would not see their student loan interest rates double in just a few months. But instead, Republicans chose to give our students a lesson in Partisan Politics 101. The Congressman continued; “For all the rhetoric we heard about their desire to stop these rate hikes, they just couldn’t pass up the chance to use one of their favorite tactics – dismantling the Affordable Care Act. They did this knowing full well that this proposal would never get the support it needs to become law. They made the calculation that they would try to score political points rather than help ensure that students can access an affordable college education.
Congressman Crowley is a seven-term representative from the 7th Congressional District of New York, which includes sections of Queens and the Bronx. He serves as chief deputy whip in the Democratic leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.