releases: https://pingree.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pingree-joins-effort-force-vote-student-loans
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://pingree.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pingree-joins-effort-force-vote-student-loans | Pingree joins effort to force vote on student loans | 2013-06-18 | 2013 | 2013-06 | Democrat | House | ME | Chellie Pingree | P000597 | pingree.house.gov | legacy | Congresswoman Chellie Pingree has joined a number of her colleagues in an attempt to force a vote on a bill that would prevent federal student loan rates from doubling in less than two weeks. "College debt levels have been on the rise steadily for years and doubling the interest rate on that debt is just about the worst possible thing we could do to students and families struggling to pay for college," Pingree said. "It's time to stop playing politics and do the right thing for college students and their families." Student loan debt has doubled in the last ten years, to over $19,000 on average. It's now the second biggest source of household debt behind home mortgages. Pingree signed a discharge petition for a bill that would freeze federal student loans at the current 3.4% rate. House leadership would be forced to hold a vote on the bill if at least 218 Representatives sign the petition. Currently there are 186 signatures. Without action, the student loan rate will double to 6.8% on July 1. Earlier this year House Republicans passed a bill that would remove the subsidy for student loans and make the interest rate variable. "The Republican bill is worse than doing nothing," Pingree said. "Under their plan, college graduates would have no idea what their loan payments would be from one year to the next, and they could face an adjustable interest rate of up to 10.5%. That sounds like a pretty bad deal for college students and their families to me." | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |