“I have spoken to the president personally about this issue many times. “I told him this is more important than anything he can do on his own,” the New York Democrat told the State of Student Debt Summit during a virtual event Wednesday. The hill. “We are making progress, children. We are making progress. “The White House seems more open to this than ever before.” Sumer called on the president to cancel up to $ 50,000 in student debt per borrower. He suggested that the Biden administration would eventually agree to this, although the president had previously only expressed a willingness to cancel up to $ 10,000 per borrower – and only if Congress approves a bill to do so and send it to his office for signature. “We want our young people to realize that they can have a good future,” Schumer said. “One of the best, much better, top ways to do that is to cancel student debt, get rid of $ 50,000, and even go higher after that.” Sumer’s comments come a week after the Ministry of Education announced that it would extend the moratorium on repayment of federal student loans, interest and receipts until August. “Do not misunderstand me, pause is a good thing, but it is not enough. “It’s not close enough,” Schumer said. The pause keeps interest rates at 0 percent and suspends debt collection efforts. It applies to more than 36 million Americans who have student loans held by the federal government. The combined debt of the 36 million debtors totals more than $ 1.37 trillion, according to the Ministry of Education. About one third of borrowers are in default or delinquency. The average monthly payment is $ 400. “It’s so much money. How does one live knowing every month that I have to pay this $ 400? Sumer said Wednesday. “Well, the pause stopped it, but make no mistake. This pause is not going to last forever and the writing off of the student debt is the way “. The story goes on Prior to the recent extension of the student loan moratorium, more than 90 Democrat lawmakers wrote a letter to President Biden calling for both an extension and the White House to “cancel student debt now.” Democrats in both the House and Senate signed the letter, including New York Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, Elizabeth Warren of Jaylala and Maila Washington. Members of the Progressive Group also signed the letter, including Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. The Democratic caucus said the cancellation was “one of the most powerful ways to address racial and economic equality issues.” “The student loan system reflects many of the inequalities that plague American society and widens the racial wealth gap. “Black students in particular borrow more to go to college, borrow more often while in school and find it difficult to repay their debt than their white peers,” they wrote. “They are three times more likely to default on their federal loans within four years than white borrowers – and face wage arrears, withholding tax and federal benefits,” the letter added. “While Latino borrowers often have lower loan balances than their white peers, they are more likely to have difficulty repaying their loans and have some of the lowest earnings after training among all racial or ethnic groups.”
