On the recordDecember 2, 2021
I thank so much Representative Bowman for hosting this critically important Special Order hour tonight. Representative Bowman said something that really resonated with me. When I was a senior in high school, they really did make it sound like that money was free. That money was far from free, as we know. Students in our country have become profit centers. They really, truly have, and it is ruining lives. One of the first ever townhalls I had when I first got elected was in western Wayne, in Wayne County, Michigan. A young lady, after I opened it up for questions, stood up. She stood up very strong and looked over at me and started crying, in tears, telling me just how incredibly hard it is to be able to survive, become a homeowner, to be able to move on. She told me about how much it felt like she was trapped, like she was hostage to the student loan debt, and the fact that all she wanted to do was give back. She wanted to get her degree and come back to the community that raised her, come back to the community and give back, and it was so incredibly hard. Today, as we hear over and over again, 15 million of our neighbors across our country owe trillions in outstanding student debt. That alone should resonate with so many of my colleagues. This must become a national priority. One of the things that I think is important, as we hear about these stories, is the human impact. I was the first in my family to graduate from high school.…
