Political Quotes

“Last January, in one of his first executive orders, President Biden extended the student loan pause on monthly payments through the end of September. This order allowed all direct student loans issued by the Federal Government through the U.S. Department of Education, again, to have a grace period during the recession that we are still experiencing. Even with a good job growth last month, 800,000 jobs added to the economy, a 5.6 percent unemployment rate, and having people starting to again recover, the need for that pause was blindingly obvious. A couple weeks ago, myself and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley wrote to President Biden and the Secretary of Education calling on the President to extend that pause again. We are about 60 days away from all these student loans snapping back with very high interest rates, and again, at a time when the economy is still recovering. Madam Speaker, this is exactly what the Small Business Administration did for disaster loans issued during COVID when they extended the grace period allowed of 1 year, when those loans were issued during COVID, to have that grace period extended into 2022. That was a smart, wise move recognizing that this is the wrong time to add debt burden on individuals and businesses as the U.S. economy starts to recover. Again, we understand that at some point we are going to have to have a return to student loan debt payments, but, again, there are additional reasons why this pause makes sense.…”