{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.welch.senate.gov/thursday-welch-courtney-to-host-press-conference-calling-on-congress-to-pass-bicameral-student-loan-interest-elimination-act/", "THURSDAY: Welch, Courtney to Host Press Conference Calling\u00a0on Congress to Pass Bicameral\u00a0Student Loan Interest Elimination Act", "2026-06-24", "2026", "2026-06", "Democrat", "Senate", "VT", "Peter Welch", "W000800", "www.welch.senate.gov", "welch", "https://www.welch.senate.gov/category/press-release/page/", "scraper", "Lawmakers\u2019 bicameral bill would eliminate interest rates on all federal student loans and cap future interest rates\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 On Thursday, June 25th at 12:00 PM EDT, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and U.S. Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT-02), alongside the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU), will host a press conference on Capitol Hill calling for Congress to take up their bicameral Student Loan Interest Elimination Act, legislation to refinance the interest on federal student loans for all existing borrowers to zero percent and cap interest rates for future borrowers. The lawmakers\u2019 legislation would make higher education more affordable by immediately eliminating interest rates for the nearly 43 million Americans with existing federally held student loans.\n\nHigher education costs continue to skyrocket, with tuition rising 40 times higher than 1960s levels for public colleges\u2014a 312.4% increase when adjusted for inflation. As a result, average college debt has more than doubled since 2007, forcing nearly 43 million Americans\u20141 in 6 American adults\u2014to take out federal student loans to help pay for higher education. In Vermont, around 78,000 student loan borrowers hold a collective $2.9 billion in federal student loan debt.\n\nThe bicameral Student Loan Interest Elimination Act would lower the cost of college and address student loan debt by refinancing the interest rate of all existing and future federal student loans to 0%. Unlike other proposals to lower student loan interest rates, the lawmakers\u2019 Student Loan Interest Elimination Act includes a pay-for to offset the cost of eliminating interest to save taxpayer dollars. Learn more about the Student Loan Interest Elimination Act and read and download the full text of the bill.\n\nLOGISTICS:\n\nWHO: U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.);\n\nU.S. Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT-02);\n\nLynn Pasquerella, President, American Association of Colleges and\n\nUniversities;\n\nAdditional members of Congress, to be announced\n\nWHEN: Thursday, June 25th at 12:00 PM EDT\n\nWHERE: House Triangle, Capitol Hill\n\nRSVP: Media are asked to RSVP to Elisabeth_St.Onge@welch.senate.gov and Ryan.Tomsheck@mail.house.gov.\n\n###", 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://www.welch.senate.gov/thursday-welch-courtney-to-host-press-conference-calling-on-congress-to-pass-bicameral-student-loan-interest-elimination-act/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.811043893918395, "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"}