Nikema Williams: “I thank Representative Bowman for yielding. I am here today with the urgent request that the Biden administration cancel…”

“I thank Representative Bowman for yielding. I am here today with the urgent request that the Biden administration cancel the student debt obligations that burden 44.7 million Americans. I am one of these 44.7 million Americans who is still paying off student loans well after our college days. I rise today to elevate the voices of the numerous constituents who continuously call me, Facebook me, and DM me to tell me their stories, including Natalie from Morningside and Jacob from Atlanta, both of whom told me that they are desperate for relief and that they only see heartache in their futures, all thanks to their student loan debt. But we know that it doesn't have to be this way. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a financial lifeline was extended to the American people with emergency student loan relief. But that lifeline is going to end in just 2 short months. Now that we have seen that being free of the burden of student loan debt is possible, we must deliver for the American people and cancel student debt permanently. Student debt is disproportionately held by Black borrowers and continues to worsen the racial wealth gap. Nowhere is it more obvious to have this vicious cycle of student loan debt exacerbate the racial wealth gap than with our historically Black colleges and universities.…”