{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-troy-carter-introduces-no-double-debt-disaster-survivors-act-house", "Congressman Troy Carter Introduces \u2018No Double Debt for Disaster Survivors Act\u2019 in the House of Representatives", "2021-12-03", "2021", "2021-12", "Democrat", "House", "LA", "Troy A. Carter", "C001125", "troycarter.house.gov", "troycarter", "https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This week, Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. introduced the No Double Debt for Disaster Survivors Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill would protect people with student loans who survive a natural disaster. After disasters, SBA loans are a lifeline to help people rebuild. However, for many who already have student loans, that additional debt burden makes it hard to recover.\n\n\u201cThe country is battling the worst pandemic in history,\u201d said Congressman Carter. \u201cWe also face increasingly frequent and intense natural disasters.I have seen and heard firsthand from individuals who have lost everything, either due to COVID, flooding, or a hurricane. For many, these combined disasters have resulted in the need to take out one or more SBA disaster loans. The last thing people need when trying to get back on their feet is another loan weighing them down. Coupled with the fact that nearly one-third of all American students go into debt to pay for college, this double debt burden hurts our economy and additionally burdens those struggling to recover from COVID-19 and natural disasters. The people need relief.\u201d\n\nAccording to the Education Data Initiative, in the United States, 42.9 million borrowers owe $1.59 billion in federal student loans. The average borrower has $36,510 in federal loans.\n\nThe No Double Debt for Disaster Survivors Act takes the following actions to help lift the burden of federal debt for disaster survivors:\n\nThe bill authorizes the Secretary of Education to cancel outstanding student loan debt for SBA disaster loan borrowers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or a natural disaster.\n\nThe amount canceled would not exceed the amount of the SBA disaster loan, and it would only eliminate the student loan debt, ensuring that no additional debt is created.\n\nThe bill cancels outstanding student loan debt for those needing to take out SBA disaster loans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nCreates an annual report to provide feedback to Congress, including the number of individuals with canceled loans and the total dollar amount of the canceled loans.\n\nStudies show that canceling student debt would substantially increase Black and Latinx household wealth and help narrow the racial wealth gap, provide immediate relief to millions of Americans during the pandemic and recession, and provide massive consumer-driven stimulus to our economy.\n\n\u201cThe people of Louisiana and America shouldn\u2019t be doubly punished after a disaster simply because they sought more education,\u201d said Congressman Carter. \u201cAt a time when we are faced with intersecting crises, we need to give the people a chance to thrive without loan debt weighing them down. The No Double Debt for Disaster Survivors Act will reduce the burden of loan debt and bring a much-needed boost to our economy.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"]], "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://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-troy-carter-introduces-no-double-debt-disaster-survivors-act-house"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.845910981297493, "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"}