U.S. Representative John Boozman (R-AR) today issued the following statement after voting against H.R. 3221, The Student Aid and Financial Responsibility Act:
"Big government is not the answer to solving lending problems. The Federal Family Education Loan (FEEL) is a well respected loan program that many students have used to afford a college education. Replacing it with a system of government-run lending directly from the U.S. Treasury will create more layers of bureaucratic red tape before students can get the money they need to pursue higher education.
"Over the past forty years, the Federal Family Education Loan program has provided more than 200 million loans. These services are delivered at very little cost to families struggling to provide their children with a college education. A switch to this government-run lending program will be bad for students, bad for schools and bad for jobs. This new government-run program will provide the bare minimum in services to students and families.