Obama Threatens To Veto GOP Student Loan Extension To Protect Fund He Planned to Cut

The Obama administration threatened to veto the House Republican version of the extension of the student loan bill Friday, arguing that it cuts funding for preventive health services to offset the one year extension of the 3.4 percent student loan rate.

In a statement released Friday, the OMB said the GOP version of the bill includes “an attempt to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund, created to help prevent disease, detect it early, and manage conditions before they become severe.  Women, in particular, will benefit from this Prevention Fund, which would provide for hundreds of thousands of screenings for breast and cervical cancer.  This is a politically-motivated proposal and not the serious response.”

But House Speaker John Boehner’s office countered the president’s threat by saying President Obama already authorized trimming down the Prevention and Public Health Fund in his proposed FY2013 budget.

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