Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley has joined other Democratic lawmakers in calling for the next coronavirus relief package to cancel student loan debt.
“Student loan cancellation has to be part of the next emergency funding package,” the Massachusetts Democrat tweeted Tuesday. ”@SenWarren & I are calling on Senate & House leadership to prioritize this.”
We need bold action now. A plan that will ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the 2008 financial crisis.
Debt cancellation. Across the board.
Immediately, the Secretary of Education must take over all monthly payments during this public health emergency.
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) March 17, 2020
“Debt cancellation. Across the board,” she added, along with a call for a government takeover of “all monthly payments during this public health emergency.”
The tweet, which was retweeted thousands of times and liked tens of thousands of times, received support and condemnation alike from Twitter users.
“So my daughter who is working to pay her own way, who didn’t go to her school of choice to save money gets to watch everyone else get a break?” one user wrote.
Another, however, praised the move, writing: “Amen to this! I owe $170k in student loans and am working super hard to find in a job. I face many barriers as I am a 1st generation El Salvadoran American + openly transgender man. I’m also the first in my family to get their Master’s Degree.”
Fellow “Squad” member, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, agreed with Pressley’s assessment a week ago. She suggested the government should go even further and consider mortgage relief due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 100 people in the United States and infected thousands more.
We should also consider measures on mortgage relief.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 12, 2020
Fellow Massachusetts lawmaker Sen. Elizabeth Warren also used her Twitter account to voice her support for student loan cancellation.
“Student loan debt cancellation MUST be a part of the next emergency coronavirus package to deliver relief immediately to millions of families and remove a giant weight that’s dragging down our economy,” she tweeted. “Senate and House progressives are in this fight all the way,” she wrote.
Student loan debt cancellation MUST be a part of the next emergency coronavirus package to deliver relief immediately to millions of families and remove a giant weight that’s dragging down our economy. Senate and House progressives are in this fight all the way.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 17, 2020
Warren said during her recent unsuccessful attempt to win the Democratic nomination for president that she would completely wipe out roughly $1.5 trillion of student debt on Day One of her presidential administration.
