Omar, Warren, Pressley, Leader Schumer, Padilla, Warnock, Clyburn, Wilson Lead Over 75 Lawmakers Urging President Biden to Swiftly Deliver Student Loan Debt Cancellation for 43 Million Americans

WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senators Alex Padilla, (D-Calif.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) led 79 other lawmakers in a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to swiftly deliver on his promise to deliver student debt cancellation to working and middle class families by early 2024. 

“We are extremely disappointed and concerned that the Supreme Court substituted politics for the rule of law to deny as many as 43 million hard working Americans life-changing relief from crushing student loan debt. In the wake of this outrageous decision, we appreciate your announcement initiating a rulemaking under the Higher Education Act of 1965 to deliver on debt relief and write to urge you to swiftly carry out your commitment to working and middle class families, and cancel student debt by early 2024,” wrote the lawmakers. 

Last year, President Biden’s historic decision to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for working Americans would provide targeted relief to families – an estimated 90 percent of relief dollars going to borrowers earning less than $75,000 a year, and an estimated 20 million people would have seen their student debt balances eliminated entirely. This relief would help families start a business, buy a home, or save for retirement, and also would help narrow the racial wealth gap. Black families are more likely to borrow to go to school, take on higher levels of debt, and disproportionately struggle with repayment compared to their white peers. Further, Black and Latino borrowers are also more likely than their white peers to default on their loans. If enacted, almost half of Latino borrowers and one of four Black borrowers would have had their entire debt balance forgiven under President Biden’s student debt cancellation plan. 

“We are facing a student loan crisis that impacts generations of borrowers who collectively hold more than $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. The burden of student debt is ever-present among vulnerable communities. Nearly one-third of Americans who hold student debt have no degree or credential. Roughly 16 percent of borrowers – including almost one third of senior citizens holding student debt – are in default, with disastrous consequences for their credit and financial health, including the garnishment of wages and government benefits. In fact, nearly three million people over the age of 62 owed more than $110 billion in federal student loans, putting seniors at risk of having their Social Security benefits garnished. More than a third of borrowers eligible for student debt cancellation under your plan are age 40 or older,” continued the lawmakers. 

The lawmakers commended President Biden’s efforts in providing a 12-month “on-ramp” for resuming student loan payments starting in October 2023, but expressed concerns that these repayments will place large burdens on borrowers. They are urging the Department of Education to ensure the implementation of the final rule to provide debt relief does not happen after the 12-month on-ramp ends to help reduce the risk of further delinquency and default. 

“Although the Supreme Court has chosen to stand in the way of your initial student debt relief plan, we recognize that as President of the United States, you have additional tools to provide relief. Working and middle class families need this relief to come as soon as possible. We urge you to continually find ways to use your authority to bring down student debt, address the rising cost of college, and make postsecondary education affordable for all students who choose that path. Borrowers have already waited nearly a year for the relief you announced in August 2022, and critics of your plan to help 43 million Americans are likely to renew their attacks with regard to your rulemaking announcement. We urge you to reject their bad-faith, partisan attempts to delay relief and carry out your efforts to help borrowers as quickly as possible,” concluded the lawmakers. 

U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and U.S. Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), John Larson (D-Conn.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.), Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-Calif.), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Alma Adams (D-N.C.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), David Trone (D-Md.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Greg Casar (D-Texas.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Troy Carter (D-La.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) signed the letter. 

Rep. Omar has been steadfast keader in her advocacy for student loan forgiveness since she began serving in Congress. 

• In June of 2019, Rep. Omar, Sen. Sanders and Rep. Jayapal introduced Groundbreaking Bills to Ensure College For All and Eliminate All Student Debt

• In October of 2019, Rep. Omar and Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon introduced the Student Loan Advocacy Act

• In October of 2019, Rep. Omar supported for the College Affordability Act in the House Education and Labor Committee which included her amendment to create a commission to study the impact of student loan debt on borrowers and our economy.

• In March of 2020, Rep. Omar and Rep. Ayanna Pressley co-led legislation to  cancel student debt amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic and shields borrowers from any involuntary payments and garnishment during the public health crisis. 

• In May of 2020, Rep. Omar led a letter calling for student loan debt cancellation.

• In December of 2020, Rep. Omar co-lead a resolution with Reps. Pressley, Waters, and Adams calling on the then President-Elect to cancel $50,000 in federal student debt.

• In June of 2021, Rep. Omar led a letter calling on President Biden to extend the pause on student loan repayment

• In October of 2021, Rep. Omar led a letter calling on the Biden Administration to release the student debt cancellation memo outlining the president’s authority to cancel student debt.

• In January of 2022, Reps. Omar co-led a bicameral letter to President Biden urging him to deliver on this promise to cancel student debt

• In March of 2022, Rep. Omar met with me President Biden in the White House to discuss student debt cancellation

• In June of 2022, Rep. Omar led a letter to President Biden requesting information on President’s executive order to cancel student. 

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