{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://rush.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rush-underwood-applauds-department-of-education-announcement-extending-0", "Rush, Underwood Applaud Department of Education Announcement Extending Student Loan Forbearance", "2020-12-07", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Bobby Rush", "R000515", "rush.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Today, U.S. Representatives Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) and Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) applaudedthe Department of Education's announcementextending the suspension of loan payments, interest accrual, and involuntary collections on federal student loansthrough January 31, 2021.\nThe announcement follows the successful effort led by Rep. Underwood, joined by Rep. Rush and 90 members of the House of Representatives, urging President Donald J. Trump to use his executive authority to extend federal student loan relief.\nThe COVID-19 pandemic has had an unimaginable impact on our nation, particularly those who now find themselves unemployed and out of work due to widespread business closures as companies attempt to navigate this crisis, said. Rep. Rush. I was proud to join Rep. Underwood's effort to call on the President and his administration to extend the suspension of student loan payments in order to provide some relief to those who are financially struggling during these unprecedented times.\nI have also introduced legislation to further assist struggling students called the Student RELIEF Act, which seeks to alleviate the economic hardships of our nation's most vulnerable families by making Pell Grant students and their families eligible for the $1,200 direct stimulus payments that were not afforded to them by the CARES Act, Rep. Rush continued. Congress must continue to do everything in its power to not only ensure that Americans survive this pandemic, but that they can ultimately thrive when we are on the other side of it.\nMillions ofstudent loanborrowersarefacingfinancial hardships impacting their abilitytomake student loan payments.Asthe pandemicworsens, we must continue  not cut off  givingfederal support toborrowers,said Underwood.I'm pleased to see the Department of Educationfinallytake action to extend this critical relief; however,a further extension will still be necessary until theeconomiccrisis brought on pandemic has subsided.\nA copy of the letter can be found here.\nOn June 22, 2020, U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) introduced the Student Recovery Eligibility for Low-Income Individuals to Exact Funds (RELIEF) Act of 2020 (H.R. 7295), which provides low-income students with direct stimulus payments that were previously unavailable to them under the CARES Act.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://rush.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rush-underwood-applauds-department-of-education-announcement-extending-0"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6400839667767286, "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"}