Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
(CNSNews.com) – Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), and Alma Adams (D-N.C.) introduced a resolution on Thursday calling for President-Elect Joe Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers using existing legal authority under the Higher Education Act.
Their resolution is the House companion to Senate Resolution 711. It recognizes the Education Secretary’s broad administrative authority to cancel federal student loan debt, urges the president to take executive action on his first day in office to cancel $50,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower using the current legal authorities already granted by Congress.
Furthermore, it calls on the president to use existing authorities to prevent debt cancellation from resulting in a tax bill for borrowers, encourages the president to ensure that administrative debt cancellation helps to close racial wealth gaps, and urges the president to extend the current payment relief on all federal student loan payments and interest for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The student debt crisis is a racial and economic justice issue and we must finally begin to address it as such. Broad-based student debt cancellation is precisely the kind of bold, high-impact policy that the broad and diverse coalition that elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris expect them to deliver,” Pressley said in a statement.
“As we work to fight for meaningful economic relief for workers and families that meets the scale and scope of the crisis we face, canceling student debt is one of the most effective ways to provide direct relief to millions, help reduce the racial wealth gap, stimulate our economy, and begin to deliver an equitable and just recovery,” the congresswoman said.
Omar called student debt cancellation “a racial equity issue” and “a moral necessity.”
“Over 90 percent of student debt is held by the federal government, which President-elect Joe Biden can cancel with the stroke of a pen,” the congresswoman said in a statement.
“Young people have been devastated by this economic crisis, with more than half living with their parents. Student debt cancellation would be a massive economic stimulus at a time when people desperately need it. It’s also a racial equity issue. Students of color are more likely to take out federal student loans, and face higher rates of default,” she said.
“That’s why I introduced the Student Debt Cancellation Act last year, and have called on leaders to make student debt relief a centerpiece of a coronavirus response package. It’s why a majority of the country supports student debt relief,” Omar added.
