U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senator/Representative:
On behalf of our 3 million members and the 50 million students they serve, we urge you to VOTE NO on the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution (H.J. Res. 45) to overturn President Biden’s student-debt relief program. Votes on this issue may be included in NEA’s report card for the 118th Congress.
The CRA would affect more than 40 million borrowers across every state and congressional district. It would unwind the pause on federal student loan payments and could even reinstate 157,000 loans forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Loan balances would rise with the addition of accumulated payments and interest, creating further economic hardship for borrowers and families already struggling to make ends meet.
The CRA would also block President Biden’s plan to cancel student loan debt for people of modest means—90 percent of those who would benefit earn less than $75,000 a year. In the weeks before the plan was challenged in court, nearly 26 million borrowers applied or were deemed automatically eligible for a chance at debt relief; the Department of Education formally approved 16 million applications.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona’s use of the HEROES Act of 2003 to pause student loan repayment falls within a long line of waiver and modification authority exercised by previous administrations. In contrast, the CRA is a direct attack on the hopes and dreams of those who thought they would finally be free of student loan debt.
For all these reasons, we urge you to VOTE NO on the CRA when it comes to the floor.
Sincerely,
Marc Egan
Director of Government Relations
National Education Association
