By The Vanguard Staff
ST. LOUIS, MO – Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) is calling attempts by Republican states to challenge the Biden-Harris Administration’s student debt relief plan “prioritizing profits over people and corporations over constituencies.” The U.S. Eastern District Court of Missouri is hearing oral arguments in Nebraska v. Biden.
The Biden-Harris Administration Student Loan Debt Relief Plan would cancel up to $20,000 for people who went to college on Pell Grants and up to $10,000 for non-Pell Grant recipients who earn less than $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples).
“Efforts to undermine the Biden Administration’s student loan cancellation program is the latest example of Republicans and student loan servicers prioritizing profits over people and corporations over constituencies. Missouri-based student loan giant, MOHELA, has remained silent about the pending lawsuit – seemingly complicit in Republican efforts to prevent over 40 million borrowers from receiving the debt relief they have been promised,” said Bush.
She noted the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) is among the largest student loan companies in the world, said Bush, handling more than one out of every $10 of all outstanding student loan debt. In Missouri alone, approximately 825,000 borrowers owe nearly $30 billion in federal student loan debt.
She added, “Actions to delay or prevent this economic program from moving forward will disproportionately harm Black and brown borrowers….I urge MOHELA and these six Republican Attorney Generals to stop putting profits over the interests of student loan borrowers and halt all activities that interfere with the President’s student loan debt cancellation plan. The American people overwhelmingly support student debt cancellation and neither partisan nor corporate interests should prevent borrowers from receiving the life-changing relief they need and deserve.”
Bush argues she has been “leading the charge in calling for President Biden to address the student loan debt crisis,” and joined the Congressional Black Caucus urging Biden to “take action on canceling student debt,” and cancel the more than $1.9 trillion in student loan debt.
Representative Bush is absolutely correct in her honest assessment of this issue.