Cancel Student Loan Debt
Floor Speech
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Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Bowman for yielding. Don't forget, I also represent Manhattan. I am a Latin from Manhattan.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for giving me the opportunity to address this incredible issue.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of canceling student debt for over 43 million Americans. In fact, Madam Speaker, student debt for some time now has surpassed credit card debt for America. It is mind- boggling to consider that for many Americans they could be indebted for a significant period of their adult lifespan. Those who have children and then choose to help them out could be indebted for an entire life. So this is not the way a country should move forward.
For more than a decade, mounting student loan debt has made it difficult for many Americans to purchase a home, to start their own business, to move forward and aspire to be part of the middle class or the advancement that this Nation should promise all its people.
They have difficulties saving for the future of their families, so this is a transgenerational crisis. It is far beyond one generation.
Recent data shows that borrowers in the United States owe collectively $1.6 trillion in Federal and private student loan debt. With the surge of the coronavirus cases and the rise in unemployment claims, the student loan crisis only worsened. It became a very deep crisis not only impacting American futures but putting in jeopardy the immediate needs and well-being of American families.
As a strong proponent of student debt cancelation, I was proud to join my colleagues in responding to the growing crisis. Democrats in the House of Representatives led a bipartisan effort to provide economic assistance and relief to student borrowers in the CARES Act which was extended in the American Rescue Plan. So we have a record, Madam Speaker, of trying to throw a lifeline to all these borrowers who are drowning in debt.
Earlier this year I was proud to join my colleagues in calling for a bold plan to tackle the student loan debt crisis and cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for Federal student loan borrowers.
Failure to cancel student loan debt will continue to greatly affect the quality of life for millions of Americans. Like the coronavirus pandemic, student debt disproportionately affects low-income, working class, and communities of color. We must work to create a more equitable outcome for everyone.
Student loan cancelation isn't only relief for debt holders, it is also one of the most effective ways to stimulate our economy. Let's be smart about this, Madam Speaker. Let's be smart about this. Let's unshackle and unsaddle people from their debt so they can have just a little bit more money in their pocket and spend it in local businesses.
They will not run away on a European vacation. They will not go to the South of France. They will go to the local store and spend their money there on emergency items, milk, Pampers, and food. So let's help them out.
When Americans aren't burdened by student loans, they are more easily able to start businesses and help their families. Removing the financial barriers allows Americans to more easily join the workforce, as well.
So not only will it stimulate local businesses and small businesses, which continue to be the biggest employers in America, but it would also help people come back to the workforce.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus to provide relief and economic justice to the millions upon millions of struggling debt owners under a mountain of student debt.
Madam Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague from the Bronx, and from Mount Vernon, and from Rockland County, and all the other areas that the gentleman distinguishes and represents for yielding to me.
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