September 2022: Student Debt Cancellation

Dear friends,

Last week, President Biden made an executive order to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt. I am incredibly proud of this monumental victory and the work we’ve done to get us to this moment. President Biden has made an investment that will lift the burden of millions of student loan borrowers shackled by exorbitant debt. This is an important first step to provide critical relief to millions of borrowers. As the whip of the Progressive Caucus, I have advocated for student debt cancellation during my meetings with President Biden and glad to see this administration act. While this partial cancellation is an important step, it’s not nearly enough. Student debt relief is just one component of a moral society. We also need to make college tuition-free so debt is not accumulated moving forward and invest in universal early education. I won’t stop fighting until we have cancelled student debt for everyone in America and create a world where future generations are not held back because of crushing debt. You can read my full statement here. 

Celebrating the Inflation Reduction Act 

Last week, I hosted a press conference to celebrate the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act with elected officials at every level of government, community leaders from labor, environmental justice organizations, and AARP in Minneapolis. I am proud that after months of negotiating for a bold bill that delivers real solutions to Minnesotans, we finally passed a bill that meets this moment. This bill reduces inflation in a progressive way — taxing large corporations, cracking down on Big Pharma price gouging, and lowering costs for working families. You can read more about the press conference here.

Welcoming Biden Officials to Minnesota

I welcomed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and my dear friend, and former colleague, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge to our state. I met with Secretary Buttigieg at the great Minnesota get-together to discuss the $12 million investment to Minneapolis that I helped advocate for. I, then, welcomed Secretary Fudge to uplift and celebrate the $2 million investment secured in my community project funding legislation for sprinkler systems in public housing to prevent tragedies like the one that took the lives of five residents in Cedar-Riverside back in 2019.

In service,

Ilhan Omar