{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://carson.house.gov/media/press-releases/beyer-carson-chu-introduce-legislation-expand-student-debt-relief-fulbright", "Beyer, Carson, Chu Introduce Legislation to Expand Student Debt Relief for Fulbright Teachers", "2025-08-15", "2025", "2025-08", "Democrat", "House", "IN", "Andr\u00e9 Carson", "C001072", "carson.house.gov", "carson", "https://carson.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "August 15, 2025 (Washington, D.C.) \u2013 Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Andr\u00e9 Carson (D-IN), and Judy Chu (D-CA) today introduced the Fulbright Teacher's Loan Forgiveness Act, legislation to expand student debt relief qualification under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program for participants in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange and Teaching Assistant programs.\n\n\u201cParticipants in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange and Teaching Assistant programs are educators serving the public, both in the U.S. and abroad. Their work meets the definition of public service that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was designed to honor, and Congress should recognize their public service by expanding PSLF benefits to help ease the burden of student loan debt.\u201d said Rep. Don Beyer. \u201cNot only have Fulbright teachers earned debt forgiveness through their service, but alleviating their debt would also encourage more talented educators to commit to public service without the fear of crippling financial debt.\u201d\n\n\u201cParticipants in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange and Teaching Assistant program are dedicated public servants,\u201d said Rep. Andr\u00e9 Carson. \u201cTheir work plays a key role in America\u2019s international relationships. We need to incentivize more leaders to participate in this program and provide relief to those who have served from debilitating student debt \u2013 which is exactly what this bill does.\u201d\n\n\u201cFulbright English Teacher Assistants (ETAs) and Teacher Exchange participants serve the American public by fostering mutual understanding between the United States and other countries through educational and cultural exchange, while receiving a modest stipend\u2014similar to programs like the Peace Corps. But unlike Peace Corps participants, Fulbrighters aren\u2019t eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF),\u201d said Rep. Judy Chu. \u201cIt is past time for Congress to acknowledge Fulbright teachers as public servants deserving of loan forgiveness, and I want to thank Reps. Beyer and Carson for their partnership on this bill to do just that.\u201d\n\nThe bill was developed following a constituent, and Fulbright alum's, request for the programs to count toward PSLF benefits, similar to existing public service programs like the Peace Corps.\n\nThe bill is cosponsored by Reps. Dwight Evans (D-PA) and Sarah McBride (D-DE). The bill is endorsed by The Fulbright Association.\n\nText of the Fulbright Teacher's Loan Forgiveness Act is available here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T14:57:50Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://carson.house.gov/media/press-releases/beyer-carson-chu-introduce-legislation-expand-student-debt-relief-fulbright"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2657109182327986, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}