Sallie Mae brings foreign jobs home to PA

He added, "This is no commentary about the quality of work being done here versus elsewhere. It's a simple decision that this was the right thing to do."

Is Sallie Mae just trying to make Rep. Kanjorski and other Congressmen happy so they  keep private companies in the student loan business? Politics "is not a principal consideration," Lord said. If it works out that way, it's "a bonus."

The Obama adminstration, in its budget, "has an orthodoxy of going to direct government loans," instead of subsidizing through Sallie Mae and other private lenders, Kanjorski told me. "I don't happen to agree with that. I want to see it in competition with the private sector, to ensure the public sector does well. The private sector has the capacity to rein in costs."

And Sallie Mae isn't just a lender, Kanjorski reminded me: "Sallie Mae is primarily a first-class loan servicer... Use the borrowing capacity of the U.S. Government to reduce the interest rate of loans. Allow private sector or government to make the loans -- it doesn't matter who.  Government can't compete with efficient and effective servicing of loans as organizations like Sallie Mae can... We will grow Salle Mae here, and save money for the government.

Kanjorski added, "Hopefully other CEOs across America can make the same type of analysis" and move outsourced jobs back home. "We'll get less of the negative stories. I don't want it to be 'man bites dog'. I want it to be a regular story. That could precipitate the recovery of the U.S. I'm proud of their patriotism and good corporate decision-making. It shines well for my district and the workforce of my district that they can do the job... I'm very optimistic."