with your consent i would like to make two separate statements and have them appear separately on the record without objection telling me to present the shootings last week of virginia tech if touched every american and indeed people around the world those who are most deeply affected of course the families and friends of the victims the students who were injured the entire virginia tech community our hearts go out to them as we read each day and papers across this country about young lives ended too soon we mourn with their families and their friends and students at virginia tech but the ripples of pain from this terrible incident reach far beyond blacksburg virginia among the others who care for the people of the republic of south korea korean americans and korean immigrants in our nation in seoul south korea more than one thousand people gathered last week to sing hymns and pray for the victims closer to home in chicago in my state of illinois leaders of the korean american community held a candlelight vigil last thursday at the headquarters of the korean american association to express their condolences to the family of those who died these vigils were everywhere from illinois to california to korea around the world sympathy and compassion was felt for the victims their families and virginia tech and its community in addition a coalition of korean american organizations have joined together to form a foundation to assist the families in virginia tech community in this time of healing the korean american coalition the korean american league for civic action the korean american students conference the mirror a foundation the southern california korean college student association the korean academy for educators the network of korean american leaders and others have joined to create the virginia tech memorial fund to support those who have been affected by the recent tragedy this is another example of the amazing compassion communities throughout our nation in the world field for the victims sadly some members of the korean community have also shared feelings of guilt that they are somehow responsible simply because the virginia tech gunman son hung cho was korean last week south korea's ambassador to the united states the ten sheik spoke at a candlelight vigil in fairfax county virginia through two years ambassador lee's said that the korean american community needed to repent he even went so far as to suggest that a fast by individuals in his community one day for each of the victims of the virginia tech gunman would prove that koreans were quote a worthwhile ethnic minority in america in the quote but korean americans do not need to apologize for the tragedy at virginia tech to those members of the korean american community who have been so pained by this terrible tragedy i'd like to repeat what one young woman said in the washington post special edition last week she said and i quote and the actions of song we cho are no more the fault of korean americans than the actions of washington area sniper as for the fault of african americans i agree with what she said the actions of this twenty three year old young man are no more the fault of korean americans than the fault of every twenty three year old young man and our nation when we move away from the racial tension sometimes threaten to break apart our national community we're all part of a greater community that feels tremendous sorrow and grief as americans and as human beings no matter what our nationality may be if there are any glimmers of hope to come out of these horrible events of virginia tech they are first of all the great courage faith and compassion demonstrated by these hokies in the extended virginia tech family one other glimmer of hope is that the fears that many korean americans and comin immigrants have expressed of being persecuted and blamed for not being realized rather than blaming a group of people americans of all ethnic backgrounds are showing a deeper understanding a deeper understanding of what it means to be one community to mourn together to work together so that this may never happen again one man was responsible for the tragedy at virginia tech but we all sure responsibility to do what we can to prevent such a horrific loss from ever occurring again madam president in april students all across the nation make final decisions about where they want to go to college and with college costs higher than ever they're figuring out how they're going to pay for school for most the financial aid office at their chosen school is their only guidance or the complex world of higher education funding students students are making financial decisions and choosing their colleges they're making decisions though that will affect them for twenty or thirty years after they graduate they're making these decisions based on what they believe to be impartial advice from their future schools financial aid officers unfortunately we've learned over the last few weeks in vice given many may not always have been passed on with the students best interest in mind whereas the student loan industry today well here's where we are student loans or an eighty five billion dollars student loan industry on an annual basis lenders have been clamoring to be placed on the school's preferred lender list financial aid officers of prominent schools have been placed on leave for allegations about holding significant financial interest in parent companies of these lenders that have been recommending that they they have been recommending to students a top official of the department of education federal student aid office has been placed on leave after it was disclosed that he held a significant amount of stock in a parent company let's go back in history for a moment to eight to nine hundred sixty five the year that congress began guaranteeing loans to needy students and paying the interest while the student was in school to entice the financial industry to loan money to students without a credit history lenders were given a helping hand from the government congress created the federal family education loan the fell program which subsidizes lenders and guarantees them against a fault congress also charter government sponsored entity then known as the student loan marketing association euphemistically called sallie mini to create a secondary market for lenders participating in the loan program sallie mae would purchase loans from the lenders thereby providing liquidity so that the fellow lenders could continue loaning money to each new class of students now fast forward to one thousand nine hundred four when the direct loan program went into effect in the federal government began loaning money directly to students the general accounting office the congressional budget office even president bush and found that the direct loan program cost the federal government a lot less than the felt program using the president's number for every one hundred dollars by private lenders loan to students in two thousand and six it cost the federal government thirteen dollars and eighty one cents for the fell government loans while the same amount borrowed through the direct loan program cost the federal government only three dollars and eighty five cents thirteen dollars and eighty one cents for the private lenders three dollars and eighty five cents per one hundred dollars for the direct loans for a few years the direct loan program grew quickly captured a third of the student loan market my predecessor in office senator paul simon of illinois was one of its strongest advocates however the private lenders weren't going to go down without a fight they're making too much money on these students they want to lose this opportunity they want this market to be there for years to come college costs were on the rise students needed to borrow more and more money private lenders saw potential profits in student debt and they began to offer money to schools to pull out of the direct loan program even though the program cost the federal government less money these private lenders went to the universities and said well why don't you just use our private lynndie operation don't go the direct loan route of course they had a profit motive in doing it they sued to prevent the direct loan program from becoming more competitive their efforts paid off the direct loan market is now down to less than a quarter of the student loan market is shrinking it is about this time that sallie mae led by a man named albert lord decided to become independent of the federal government so it could offer student loans not just purchase loans on the secondary market it successfully shed its g s c status in one thousand nine hundred seven and now is one of the most dominant players in the student loan market in america its shareholders and executives have benefited handsomely let me show you what's happened to the stock price of sallie mae s l m if you're looking for a way to look it up on the internet stock prices from two thousand and one to the present have appreciated two hundred eighty one percent this is the industry loaning money to our students around america doing quite well company revenues went from three point five billion dollars in two thousand and one to eight point seven five billion dollars in two thousand and six you'd like to think these federal subsidies would at least make college more affordable if we're putting this much money in this private corporation that's loaning money t students let's see what happens to college cost to ition fees room and board at four year public schools have followed a similar trajectory increasing by forty two percent since the year two thousand and one the remarks i'm going to make today have a lot to do with the people who are loaning money to students across america how profitable it's become how well they've done and how poorly the students are doing the debts being heaped on them they end up graduating if they're lucky from college with a debt as big as the markets as most of us faced we bought our first home now we say to these students graduations here's your diploma and your book to pay back your loan good luck in america well i don't want to absolve the colleges and universities from this conversation the fact is that they have been party to a dramatic increase in the cost of higher education during the same period of time but will say that topic is important as it is largely for another day speaking to the lone student loan industry higher government subsidies higher cost something's wrong with this picture remember mr albert lord i mentioned earlier the former c e o and now chairman of the company called sallie mae mr large has done pretty well loaning money to students across america so well that he recently got into a little bit of a controversy in the washington area he proposed the construction of a golf course and people in and around the county didn't like the idea much they didn't want the traffic that might be associated with the golf course and they started complaining and mr lord disabuse them of the notion that this would cause traffic congestion when he told him that the two hundred forty four acres he was setting aside for the golf course was for his own personal and private golf course doing quite well as me at the expense of students across america he had enough personal wealth to lead a serious but i'm sick sessile bid to purchase the washington nationals baseball team in two thousand and two mr students struggling to get their education in two thousand and four mr lord was ranked second on the list with forty one point eight million dollars in total compensation not a bad year and yes sallie mae's executives to come quite far from the days when they worked as a quiz i governmental operation sallie mae's dramatic financial growth didn't happen without some help since the start of the bush administration federal officials have turned a blind eye to problems surrounding private lenders and why wouldn't they the bush administration rewarded loan industry officials with the key positions in the u s department of education there isn't anything inherently wrong having people with experience from the loan industry working for education i'm asking though whether the cozy relationship that developed between the bush administration the republican led congress and the lenders have left the loan industry essentially unregulated it was a lender who heard representative boehner former chair of the house education committee say to the loan industry and i quote know that i have all of you in my two trusted hands in the quote exactly what the lending industry has done do whatever it takes to push the student loan industry in my favor especially at a time when i knew no one would be there to stop me this is where when revenue sharing arrangements between colleges and lenders began sallie mae led the way with one of the most offensive schemes called opportunity pools here's how it works a lender provides a school with a fixed amount of private loan money the school can lend to students who otherwise wouldn't qualify for loans these loans come at higher interest rates in return the college agrees to make the lender its exclusive provider of federally backed loans some of sallie mae's competitors complained to the inspector general however department officials chose not to take any action and system that the loan industry could regulate itself what do you think sally's maze competitors did with this tacit approval of opportunity pools they did what any business would do to compete they began offering similar deals to schools but they didn't stop at opportunity pools lenders have loan financial aid offices staff and have operated call centers on behalf of schools students and their families seeking information advice and to wish in financing options or talking to individuals they believe to be school officials actually their employees of the lenders lenders have long provided schools with little office trinkets such as posted pads and pens no harm done however in recent years the little trinkets of turned into gifts like i pods and trips to exotic locations for so called educational conferences let me give you one example last year educator a not profit lender that offers loans under the name loan to learn invited financial aid officers and their spouses or guest from all across the nation to an educational all expense paid summit held at a luxurious beachfront four seasons resort in nevis in the west indies this resort by the way has been rated as one of the top luxury resorts by travel and leisure magazine between symposiums forums and roundtable discussions on the importance of addressing the cost of higher education guests could enjoy snorkeling water and beach sports sailing kayaking volleyball sail boarding access to an eighteen hole championship golf course a ten court tennis complex beach for approvals and a luxury spa not a bad deal for college officials being entertained by the student loan industry news of the trip aerated such negative response from the public that ed had to cancel it unfortunately before occurred after reading about the west indies trip i asked the inspector general the department of education to investigate whether lenders are offering kickbacks or inducements to school officials in return for loan business my staff passed along information for provided to us by constituents record regarding these inducements you can imagine my disappointment when a member of my staff received an e mail response from the inspector general's office the e mail merely described the results of the inspector general's conversations with my constituents my staff didn't think the e mail could possibly be the inspector general's official response and followed up to confirm even with all the recent news stories i'm still waiting to hear from the inspector general of the department of education whether or not they're going to initiate an investigation into these lenders inducements selling they recently agreed to be bought out and turned into a private company is this a good deal is it good for taxpayers subsidize student loans is a good for students it certainly is a good deal for sallie mae's executives and shareholders the buyers to private investment funds and j p morgan chase and bank of america ever agreed to pay twenty five billion dollars for this company sixty dollars a share for its stock you know how much that's over the stock price that's published fifty percent fifty percent premium over sallie mae share prices before news of this buyout was report d let's see how much mr lord and mr fast fits patrick are going to do if this deal goes through well it looks like mr lord is going to end up with forty seven point two million dollars mr fitzpatrick a little better fifty eight point six million dollars they're riding high in a riding high at the expense of students all across this country there was a time when this congress cared enough about students in this country to create time ever i know a little bit about this program because i happen to be one of the recipients one of the borrowers i borrowed money to go to college and law school from the national defense education act paid it back after graduation three percent interest i couldn't ask for better treatment and better consideration from those who were lending money but those were the early days when we were just thinking about students and education and the future of america now we're talking about big business fat profits basically indefensible compensation for the c e o s who run these companies i really hope someone's able to uncover what other fees and payments sallie mae's executives may very be receiving to help take the country private will this deal be good for students sure sallie mae and many other lenders of long time they've been able to offer better deals for students to loan fee and interest rate discounts well of course they can offer the discount they're obviously still making enough money off student loans look at their profitability look what's happened their stock price look to how much they're being paid and they've made sure that the direct loan program cheaper for the federal government better for the students could not compete now we know why they've been able to make money off students the washington post recently reported that some lending companies with access the national student loan data system which includes confidential information on sixty million student borrowers have repeatedly searched the database in ways that violate federal rules on privacy it appears the lenders were giving unauthorized users such as marketing firms collection agencies and loan brokerage firms access to this database about in their families lenders are allowed to access information contained in the database only if they have the permission of the student or have a financial relationship with the student but the department of education recently decided to cut off outside access to the database were lenders using this information gathered from the database to sell other non related loan products to students we don't know for sure but i intend to find out i sent letters to the largest to the loan companies asking them to reveal how many times they have access the database in the past four years and explained what they subsequently did with the information i am concerned about the post sale of sallie mae the private sallie mae could lead to even less information being disclosed to the public sure lenders are required to provide certain information order this paid in the federal loan program but we should make sure that all and yours are held to the same standard of disclosure regardless of whether the lender is a school or a nonprofit a private or a publicly traded company let me conclude mr president by saying to ition and for your public institutions has risen by forty two percent in the last five years students and their families are struggling to pay off college debt students are leaving college on average with nearly twenty thousand dollars in debt and many much much more we must take serious steps to help these students really achieve the american dream we're proposing in the democratic side of the aisle one thousand one hundred dollar increase in the maximum pell grant over five years a cap on loan repayments of fifteen percent of an individual's income and reducing the student loan interest rate how we pay for it by cutting the twenty two point three billion dollars lender subsidy which we give to those like salli sure it's more than president bush's proposed cut but only a little bit two point three billion dollars of course lenders are claiming that the proposed cuts goes beyond what they think is sustainable and that lenders would decide to leave the student loan business it's difficult to be moved by these claims when a company like sallie mae is worth twenty five billion dollars and its buyers are willing to pay a fifty percent premium knowing that the lender subsidies will likely because it's time we return to the day where the federal government makes a serious investment in one of its most valuable assets its children the future of our country depends on it we need to be asking those who are involved in this business of student  loans to keep in mind first these students and their families as president this point i'd like to make a short statement to acknowledge an event that is about to take place today and as the to be shown by unanimous consent separate from the without objection mr president one of the ways that congress maintains its contact with the american people is by the official report of the business that we do through its recent modern history we have published a congressional record so that people across this country online and in writing can hear the words of senators and can follow the debate on the floor of the united states senate none of this effort would be productive or even possible were not for the official reporters who come here and follow every word spoken on the floor transcribed and make these publications possible today jack hickman official reporter is marking the end of his service to the united states as an official reporter in the future he'll be able to listen to senators and not remember word but at this point in time he has dispatched his official duties and continues to and i know i speak for the entire senate family thanking so we're waiting for senators to come back and resume their work here on the floor you can see a number of members have been moving across your screen there so perhaps this break won't be too long you saw earlier today if you were watching the senate passing that iraq spending bill by a vote  the vote was fifty one to forty six in the senate the house passing that legislation last night by a vote of two eighteen two to all wait so now it moves on to president bush on tuesday that iraq supplemental spending bill of some one hundred twenty four billion dollars the president has said he will veto any legislation with a timetable for troop withdrawal tomorrow morning on washington journal on c span we get under way at seven in the morning we'll be looking at the day's headlines no doubt some headlines on that topic we'll take some of your calls and e mails and then at eight o'clock we'll hear from scott bloch who's the u s special counsel talking about the hatch act we'll follow up at nine in the morning with orville shell who's the dean of the u c berkeley graduate school of journalism he'll remember the life and career of his friend david halberstam the author who was killed on monday in california in a car crash again we're waiting for senators going back to the floor here telling you about the senate adopting that iraq war spending conference report earlier a vote of fifty one to forty six a couple of republican senators joining their friends across the aisle the democrats senators gordon smith of of nebraska both both republicans voting with the democrats today while connecticut senator joseph lieberman who's an independent who caucuses with the democrats voted with a majority of the republicans against that conference report anyway the measure now moving as we said to president bush's desk on tuesday the president expected by all concerned in washington from what the president has said expected to detail that measure in the house today the house voted by a vote of two seventy seven to one hundred thirty seven to prohibit the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses roaming public lands that finishes up their legislative work for the week the house will be in monday for a pro forma session only with no vote scheduled so members of the house can attend the funeral for representative juanita militar mcdonald the california democrat died of cancer on april twenty second of course our live house coverage gavel to gavel always on c span and the senate here