Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Republicans’ New Legislation To Deny Student Loan Debt Relief For Millions Of Americans

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on Republicans introducing legislation to deny student loan debt relief for millions of Americans. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

This morning, House Republicans introduced legislation to overturn President Biden's historic student loan debt relief program, denying millions of Americans the critical student debt relief they need.

It’s hard to believe that at a time when millions of Americans are struggling with student debt, Republicans are showing how callous and uncaring they are by trying to block debt relief that would literally transform the lives of so many for the better.

Republicans have tried to paint President Biden’s plan as a “tuition bailout” and a “giveaway to high earners.”

A giveaway to high earners? Republicans ignore the facts:

Under President Biden’s plan, nearly 90% of relief dollars would go to out-of-school borrowers making less than $75,00 a year. This is a party that cuts taxes on the very wealthy but then says that this is a bailout and a giveaway to high earners, when nearly 90% of the people who get it make less than $75,000 a year. Who are they kidding? What hypocrisy.

Under President Biden’s plan, no one in the top 5% of incomes will receive a penny in debt relief, even though Republicans were happy to give them huge tax breaks a few years back and still want to do that.

Rather than help the privileged few, President Biden’s plan would benefit Americans who need it most: students of color, poor Americans, children of immigrants, working and middle-class families. These are the people who would suffer from the Republicans’ terrible proposal.

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