{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://moskowitz.house.gov/posts/moskowitz-helps-lead-bipartisan-effort-to-force-vote-on-student-loan-relief", "Moskowitz Helps Lead Bipartisan Effort to Force Vote on Student Loan Relief", "2026-06-24", "2026", "2026-06", "Democrat", "House", "FL", "Jared Moskowitz", "M001217", "moskowitz.house.gov", "moskowitz", "https://moskowitz.house.gov/press", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) is helping lead a bipartisan effort to force Congress to act on the student loan crisis and bring the Affordable Loans for Students Act directly to the House Floor.\n\nEarlier today, Moskowitz helped file a discharge petition on the legislation. A discharge petition is a tool Members of Congress use to bypass leadership delays and procedural roadblocks. If enough Members sign on, it forces a vote on a bill, whether House leadership wants to bring it up or not. Through this effort, Moskowitz is pushing Congress to stop stalling and take direct action to lower costs for millions of student loan borrowers.\n\nVideo of Moskowitz highlighting his efforts to address the student loan crisis and deliver relief for borrowers across Florida is found here.\n\nThe bipartisan Affordable Loans for Students Act would cap federal student loan interest rates at 2%, giving borrowers real relief and helping ensure their payments go toward paying down the actual loan \u2014 not years of compounding interest. The legislation was originally introduced by Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY-17) and co-led by Rep. Moskowitz and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13).\n\n\u201cThere is broad bipartisan agreement that student loan debt is holding Americans back, yet Congress has failed to act,\u201d said Congressman Jared Moskowitz. \u201cOur bill would cap federal student loan interest rates at 2%, helping borrowers get ahead while preserving access to higher education. The more money Americans can save on interest for their loans, the more money they can put into the economy. This is commonsense reform that does not rely on blanket loan cancellation and does not spend taxpayer money. If Members believe we need to address the student loan crisis, they should sign this discharge petition and let the House vote.\u201d\n\nCurrent federal student loan interest rates have climbed as high as 6.39% for undergraduate Direct Loans, 7.94% for graduate and professional Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and 8.94% for Direct PLUS Loans. For many borrowers, these rates make it harder to repay what they owe and can turn student loans into long-term financial burdens that delay buying a home, starting a family, saving for retirement, or building a future.\n\nIn addition to lowering the interest rate on certain federal student loans, the Affordable Loans for Students Act would require loan terms, for eligible loans held by the Secretary of Education, to be modified automatically without any action from the borrower. For eligible federal loans not held by the Secretary, the bill would create a refinancing process while allowing borrowers to opt out.\n\nThe legislation would also prohibit origination fees on refinanced loans under the program, preserve a borrower\u2019s original repayment term unless the borrower chooses otherwise, and apply the 2% rate to future Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, and Federal Direct Consolidation Loans covered under the bill. On CNN, Moskowitz highlighted his push to force a vote on commonsense reform to the student loan crisis, making clear that Congress should not continue to ignore an issue that is crushing borrowers across the country.", 1, "2026-06-25T06:30:03Z", "2026-06-25T06:31:21Z"]], "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://moskowitz.house.gov/posts/moskowitz-helps-lead-bipartisan-effort-to-force-vote-on-student-loan-relief"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1428091675043106, "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"}