Obama urges Congress to prevent student loan rates hike

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday urged Congress to prevent the student loan rates from hiking which is due to occur on July 1, picking a fight with Republicans over the same problem both sides have been trying to solve with different answers. Flanked by a group of college students, Obama delivered his remarks at the Rose Garden in the White House, calling for reserving higher education in the country as "the best investment" for young people and the nation's future. Obama noted that the burden of student loans will restrict access to higher education. "And that doesn't just hold back our young graduates, it holds back our entire middle class because Americans now owe more on our student loans than we do on our credit cards. And those payments can last for years, even decades, which means that young people are putting off buying their first car or their first house, the things that grow our economy and create new jobs," said the president.