President Obama to Call on Congress to Freeze Interest Hike on Student Loans

On July 1, the interest rates of approximately 7.4 million students' federal loans are scheduled to double unless Congress and President Barack Obama agree to freeze the rate for at least another year.

While both the Obama administration and Republican leaders agree the rate should be frozen at the current 3.4 percent, the two have been unable to reach a compromise on how to pay for the plan.

Under a plan proposed and passed by the House in April, the interest rate freeze would be funded by cutting some $6 billion from Obama's preventative health care program.

However, the White House has said it would veto such legislation as the proposed bill would take money from health programs that fund services like cancer screening and child immunizations.

Another plan, proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-NV), would fund the freeze by raising the premiums companies pay for pension insurance, an idea the Washington Post reports "is believed to be acceptable to businesses" provided changes to rules for calculating pension liabilities are passed in a related $109 billion highway funding bill.

But GOP leaders are not biting.

With the administation and GOP in a deadlock, President Obama has scheduled an address today at 1:40 p.m. to publicly call for Congressional action. His remarks will be streamed live at WhiteHouse.gov/live.

Following the president's remars at 2:30 p.m., Mark Zuckerman, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council, will be on Twitter to answer questions about student loan interest rates and college affordability.

Ask your questions now and during the event with the hashtag #WHChat and follow the Q&A Live through @WHLive.

Which plan would you support, the House or Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid's?