News Articles

Since the early days of his administration, President Obama has enjoyed a reputation as a higher education reformer. Just over four years ago he told a joint session of Congress that the country would regain its place as the most educated nation in the world, and his student loan reform bill phased out the role of private lenders in the federal aid system. Two years ago he famously warned college... Read more »

By Rep. John Kline (R-MN) Last summer, debate about student loans reached a fever pitch thanks to a scheduled increase in the interest rate for subsidized Stafford loans made to undergraduate students. The president began touring college campuses, calling on Congress to prevent the increase that his own party set in motion in 2007. As I said at the time, no one wanted to see interest rates double... Read more »

President Obama's 2014 budget calls on Congress to prevent a doubling of interest rates on student loans and make the rates "more market-based." Last week House Republicans and four Democrats voted to prevent the rates from doubling and make the rates more market-based. Naturally, Mr. Obama is sitting down with the leaders of both parties in a good-faith effort to iron out their remaining differe... Read more »

Bipartisan compromise is tough to find in Washington right now — but when there is opportunity for agreement, we owe it to the American people to take action. In the coming weeks, millions of student-loan borrowers could see their interest rates double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. We’re in this predicament because politicians put themselves in charge of setting interest rates, guaranteeing un... Read more »

Congress has only begun working on student loans this year, and already it’s going better than last year’s debacle. Election-year politics drove Congress and the White House to endorse a bumper-sticker policy — keep loan rates from doubling! — instead of looking at the substance. Lawmakers rushed to extend a 3.4 percent rate on certain new loans instead of allowing the rate to revert back to 6.8 ... Read more »

On Saturday Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) highlighted the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013 (H.R. 1406) in the weekly Republican address. The commonsense proposal to give private-sector workers the option of receiving paid time off or ‘comp time’ for overtime hours worked was approved by the House of Representatives last week. During her remarks, Rep. Roby explained how H.R. 1406 would help more ... Read more »

House Republicans on Thursday proposed a permanent fix for avoiding a doubling of student loan interest rates this year, one that is based on a proposal from the Obama administration. The Smarter Solutions for Students Act, H.R. 1911, would require interest rates for all federal student loans to be based on the 10-year Treasury note, and end what has become an annual debate within Congress on how... Read more »

By Rep. John Kline (R-MN) A South St. Paul mom and dad are having a difficult time balancing work and family. They feel time spent with their children — something we all dearly covet and our kids direly need — is harder to come by. A member of the Minnesota National Guard deployed overseas can’t stop worrying about a spouse juggling work and parenting responsibilities halfway across the world. A ... Read more »

Part-timers to lose pay amid health act's new math Many part-timers are facing a double whammy from President Obama's Affordable Care Act. The law requires large employers offering health insurance to include part-time employees working 30 hours a week or more. But rather than provide healthcare to more workers, a growing number of employers are cutting back employee hours instead. The result: No... Read more »

In April 2009, Martha Roby wasn’t sure she could juggle being a House member with raising her toddler daughter and baby son. As attracted as she was to the idea of representing Alabama’s second district in Congress, Roby — at the time, a city council member in Montgomery, Ala. — had enough doubts that she decided to make a trip to D.C. with her husband, Riley, to “vet whether or not this was real... Read more »