Clinton hammers at GOP on student loans

September 11, 1995
Web posted at 8:22 p.m. EDT (2422 GMT)

From Correspondent Carl Rochelle

CARBONDALE, Illinois (CNN) -- President Clinton took his battle against Republican congressional budget cutters to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale Monday. This time he criticized GOP plans to reduce direct student loans, a Clinton innovation, which replaced loan guarantees through banks. "They propose to get rid of direct lending program, go back to the old system which was more cumbersome, which will cost the students more money, which will lead to fewer people taking advantage of the loan program, which will mean more headaches for the colleges and universities, but the banks will make their money back, that's all that will happen," Clinton said. (183K .aiff sound file or 183K .wav sound file)

Senator Paul Simon, an Illinois Democrat, is one of the chief congressional supporters of direct student loans.

"Students benefit, parents benefit, colleges benefit, and more important, taxpayer's benefit. We will save over a billion dollars a year as well as providing more assistance to students."

-- Senator Paul Simon, D-Illinois.

But some student leaders at this university of more than 23,000 students agree with the Republican position that direct loans may actually cost the government more.

"My big concern is we don't know how much it's going to cost the government and Americans."

-- Bill Karrow, president of Graduate and Professional Student Council

Karrow said he was scheduled to be part of a roundtable discussion between Clinton and students from area schools until he made his view known to the White House. "The moderator for the roundtable called me back and said you're no longer on the roundtable," said Karrow.

"What's the point of having a discussion and dialogue if you're just going to be a stage prop?" said Illinois Republican Jerry Weller.

While the president was in Illinois, Vice President Al Gore was hammering away on the budget and education in Pittsburgh.

The plan is for education to dominate the president's public appearances in the near future, embracing a grass-roots issue designed to portray Clinton as above partisan politics, while he blasts Republican budget plans in the classic partisan tradition.

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Clinton hammers at GOP on student loans

"Students benefit, parents benefit, colleges benefit, and more important, taxpayer's benefit. We will save over a billion dollars a year as well as providing more assistance to students."

"My big concern is we don't know how much it's going to cost the government and Americans."

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