Prairie State Wire

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Senate voted in favor of H.J. Resolution 45, which would overturn President Biden’s student debt relief plan to cancel up to $10,000 for non-Pell-eligible borrowers and up to $20,000 for Pell-eligible borrowers:

“Tens of millions of Americans are plagued by student loan debt.  Working families, particularly in communities of color, are buried in so much student debt that they can’t afford to buy a home, start a business, save for emergencies, or fully participate in the economy.  Now, Republicans refuse to give these borrowers a break. 

“I’m sorely disappointed, but not surprised, that my Republican colleagues coldly severed this lifeline that we had offered hard-working Americans.  I urge President Biden to swiftly veto this legislation, as promised, for the sake of student borrowers across the country.”

If enacted, this resolution would have widely detrimental effects, preventing up to 43 million student borrowers nationwide, and more than one million in Illinois, from seeing much-needed relief.  Additionally, the resolution retroactively disapproves the seventh extension of the student loan payment pause that came from the COVID-19 pandemic.  As a result, more than 37 million borrowers, including 1.3 million Illinoisans, could be forced into multiple unplanned repayments while setting a precedent that widespread relief and payment pauses could not be instituted in the future without Congressional approval.

Original source can be found here.