[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 207 (Wednesday, December 1, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H6720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  USING EMPLOYER-SPONSORED EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS TO PAY OFF 
                              STUDENT DEBT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about 
a national problem that has continued for years; that is the rise in 
student loan debt. Over 40 million borrowers hold outstanding student 
loan balances that exceed $1.7 trillion. The average borrower holds 
about $39,000 in student debt.
  This is unacceptable. We hear talk about pie-in-the-sky policies, 
like debt forgiveness, that come maybe from the other side of this 
Capitol or Chamber, what we call the U.S. Senate. These are not just 
pie-in-the-sky proposals; they are BS. They are not going to happen. It 
is time that Members of this body talk about the solutions that all of 
us here helped implement. We actually addressed the student debt issue.
  It is through legislation I led with my colleague, Congressman Scott 
Peters of California, that was signed into law by President Trump last 
year, that would allow employers to make tax-free student loan payments 
of up to $5,250 per year to each employee who holds an eligible student 
loan, lowering payroll taxes both for employers and the employees.
  This public-private partnership model makes student loan payments 
eligible for employer-sponsored educational assistance programs, just 
like tuition assistance has been for years.
  In fact, my good friends at Chegg--and I have got four public 
universities in my district, four private universities in my district, 
and a handful of community colleges in my district--every one of those 
students, like my three kids who are in college right now and grad 
school, knows what Chegg is. That is where they are getting their 
books. It is a cost-effective, private-sector approach to lower the 
cost of textbooks for kids nationwide.
  Well, the people of Chegg know how important student debt is, because 
they have actually paid back over a million dollars in student debt for 
their employees. They have actually taken advantage of this program 
that we all passed in a bipartisan way to address this $1.7 trillion 
problem.
  Every employer out there should do what Chegg has done and take 
advantage of the tax provisions that are in place and were put in place 
by Republicans and Democrats and signed into law by President Trump. 
Let's make sure that you use this as an effective recruitment tool and 
retention tool in this economy.
  Mr. Speaker, I am asking my colleagues to help get the word out to 
our employers across this great country to use what is already 
available to them and their employees who have student debt. They can 
use this student loan debt benefit to help recruit more workers. They 
can use it to retain more talent. They can use it to give their 
employees financial freedom and make a real difference in their lives 
by reducing their student debt and by reducing the $1.7 trillion in 
debt that we have in this country, which outnumbers all auto and credit 
card debt combined.
  Help the employees. Help America. Let's get this economy back on 
track.

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