“I get emotional thinking about the profound impact this will have for families. Especially families that have been systematically denied the opportunity to own a home or build generational wealth.

“This is the type of transformative policy that sends ripples forward for generations…. Millions of families are going to start 2023 student loan debt free thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration and that is a beautiful thing.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – In a powerful speech on the House floor, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) heralded President Biden’s action to cancel student debt for millions of families in the Massachusetts 7^th and across the nation.

Yesterday, Rep. Pressley joined the White House and the Department of Education in unveiling state-by-state data on the impact of student debt cancellation.

Throughout the past two years, Rep. Pressley, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), alongside advocates and organizers, have consistently called on President Biden to cancel student debt. Last year, they led their colleagues in reintroducing their bicameral resolution outlining a bold plan for President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis by using existing authority under the Higher Education Act to cancel federal student loan debt. 

President Biden announced his federal student loan debt cancellation plan last month.

A full transcript of her remarks is available below and the full video is available here.

Transcript: Rep. Ayanna Pressley Heralds Student Debt Cancellation in Powerful Floor Speech

U.S. House of Representatives

September 21, 2022

Mister Speaker,

I rise this morning in solidarity with the millions of student loan borrowers across this nation who slept a little easier last night knowing that essential student loan debt relief is on the way.

I am thinking of every person who has pulled me aside in community, who dropped their eyes to the floor as they described the financial burden and shame they were carrying, crushed by student debt. The teachers, the electricians, the nurses, and indeed even grandparents, our elders. Some 76-year-olds on fixed incomes whose benefits were garnished.

The coalition that rallied around our calls to Cancel Student Debt is as broad and diverse as this nation because so too are the families personally impacted by this economic justice issue.

President Biden, we thank you for taking action. We thank you for listening deeply and responding. With the stroke of a pen you moved to cancel student debt for millions of borrowers. And this action is going to change and save lives.

In my home state of Massachusetts, the Department of Education reported yesterday that 813,000 student loan borrowers in Massachusetts stand to benefit from student debt cancellation.

I get emotional thinking about the profound impact this will have for our families. Especially families that have been systematically denied the opportunity to own or build generational wealth. This is the type of transformative policy that sends ripples for generations. Student loan cancellation will change and save lives.

I want to thank my dedicated partners in this effort – Senator Warren and Senator Schumer, my colleagues in the House who have worked on this issue for years alongside me – Congresswoman Omar, Congresswoman Adams, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Jones, and our partners in the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus including Senator Warnock, also Chairwoman Jayapal, Chairwoman Beatty and Chairwoman Waters.

Our work to make education accessible and affordable across the nation continues with urgency.

And millions of families are going to start 2023 student loan debt free thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration and that is a beautiful thing.

Rep. Pressley, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have consistently called on President Biden to cancel student debt. Last year, they led their colleagues in reintroducing their bicameral resolution outlining a bold plan for President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis by using existing authority under the Higher Education Act to cancel federal student loan debt. 

• On September 12, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Senator Warren wrote to the nine federal student loan servicers to inquire about how they are providing borrowers with accurate and timely information about student loan cancellation.
• On August 24, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement applauding President Biden’s action to cancel student debt.
• On August 10, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Warren Massachusetts joined Massachusetts union leaders in Dorchester for a roundtable discussion on student debt cancellation.
• On July 18, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley delivered remarks at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) national convention and renewed her calls for President Biden to cancel student debt by executive action.
• On July 8, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley with The Debt Collective hosted a virtual roundtable with student debt holders from all walks of life to highlight the intersectional burden the nearly $2 trillion student debt crisis has had on individuals and families. 
• On June 22, 2022, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined AFL-CIO and union leaders for a roundtable discussion on the importance of student debt cancellation for American workers.
• On May 20, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley applauded the Congressional Black Caucus’ (CBC) statement calling on President Biden to cancel student loan debt.
• On May 4, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley visited Bunker Hill Community College to celebrate the $1 million in federal community project funding she secured and continued her calls for President Biden to cancel student debt.
• On March 17, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley and Arisha Hatch, vice president and chief of campaigns at Color of Change, published an op-ed in Grio calling on President Biden to use his executive order authority to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower.
• On December 8, 2021, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a bicameral letter to President Joe Biden releasing new data about the adverse impact of restarting student loan payments and calling on him to act to cancel up to $50,000 of student debt.
• On December 2, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley delivered remarks on the House floor in which she reiterated her calls for President Biden to cancel $50,000 in federal student loan debt by executive action.
• On October 8, 2021, Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar and their House colleagues sent a letter to President Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona urging him to release the memo to determine the extent of the administration’s authority to broadly cancel student debt through administrative action.
• On July 29, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement reaffirming President Biden’s authority – and the urgency – to cancel student loan debt.
• On June 23, 2021, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Congressman Joe Courtney led their colleagues on a bicameral letter to President Biden calling on him to extend the pause on federal student loan payments.
• On April 13, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley testified at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy hearing to examine the student loan debt crisis in our country.
• On April 1, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, held a press conference calling President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis.
• On February 4, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley, along with several Democratic House and Senate leaders, led their colleagues in reintroducing a bicameral resolution outlining a bold plan for President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis. 
• On December 17, 2020, Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Maxine Waters, and Alma Adams introduced a resolution outlining a bold plan for President-elect Joe Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in Federal student loan debt for student loan borrowers.
• On December 10, 2020, Congresswoman Pressley was in Yahoo Finance urging the Biden administration to cancel student debt, stressing the impact on Black borrowers.
• On May 8, 2020, Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Alma Adams, and Ilhan Omar, led 28 of their colleagues and sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy calling for the universal, one-time, student debt cancellation of at least $30,000 per borrower in the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation.
• On March 23, 2020, Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar introduced the Student Debt Emergency Relief Act, legislation that provides immediate monthly payment relief for federal student loan borrowers.
• On March 17, 2020, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren were on The Hill calling on congressional leadership to include student debt cancellation in the next coronavirus relief package.
• On October 11, 2019, Congresswoman Pressley introduced legislation – the Ending Debt Collection Harassment Act – to protect consumers from abusive debt collection.
• On July 17, 2019, Congresswomen Pressley introduced legislation – the Student Borrower Credit Improvement Act – to provide much needed support to private student loan borrowers with a pathway to financial stability by helping them improve their credit.

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