Warnock says after first 100 days new priority is student debt cancellation

At a virtual town hall marking his 100th day in office on Friday, Senator Raphael Warnock looked at some of his accomplishments and pledged to push for college debt relief and help Georgians rural.
The main achievement, he said, was his support for the American rescue plan, a $ 1.9 trillion economic relief program including stimulus checks, tax credits and funding for state and local governments.
âThe US bailout has provided gunshots in people’s arms, checks in their pockets, and it has started the work needed to reopen our economy, our schools, for businesses,â Warnock said. âAnd so I’m proud of this job. I’m proud of how we’ve been able to fit important legislation into the US bailout, we’ve expanded the earned income tax credit, we’ve expanded the child tax credit. And experts tell us that with this we will halve child poverty. “
The town hall was pre-registered and included issues for staff review. It came a day after Warnock appeared alongside President Joe Biden in Duluth during rally tagging 100th day of Biden in the office.
Warnock has pledged to continue pushing Biden to write off some of the student loan debt.
The first in his family to attend college, Warnock has often said during the election campaign that he would not have found success without the Pell Grants and other government aid. Today, many students are struggling with massive loans, he said.
“My heart breaks when I see what young people are grappling with right now, at a time when college debt has outpaced credit card debt in our country,” Warnock said. âCollege debt has overtaken auto loans. In other words, our young people have a mortgage before they have the chance to have a mortgage, which has all kinds of implications not only for their personal economy, but also for the Georgian and American economy. “
Warnock said he signed a letter this week urging Biden to write off $ 50,000 in student loan debt per borrower. He also said he would prioritize issues affecting rural Georgians, especially expanding broadband and reducing rural hospital closures.
Warnock said expand Medicaid will help keep rural hospitals open. Whether that happens is up to the state legislature, but Warnock said he’s doing his best. to convince them.
âWhat I did in this regard as a United States Senator in Georgia, I used the influence you gave me by electing me to the United States Senate and giving the Democrats a majority to stand. fight for Georgia, and our ability to expand Medicaid so that we got $ 2 billion in additional support to expand Medicaid, âhe said.
Warnock also briefly touched on the state’s new electoral law, pledging to support John Lewis’s Voting Rights Act and the People’s Act to fight what he called voter suppression.
âKnow that in the end, failure is not an option,â he said. “We must, and we will, pass the right to vote in Congress, and I will do everything I can to make that happen.”
Republicans say Democrats’ complaints about the election overhaul are exaggerated, arguing that sections of the bill will increase early voting hours for many counties.
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Savannah Viar criticized Warnock’s proposals as being too expensive.
Raphael Warnock and Joe Biden’s liberal policy proposals amount to an American bankruptcy plan that would cost Georgians billions of dollars, raise taxes and kill small businesses – which they both know after costing millions to the state for their lies about Georgia’s electoral integrity. law, âshe said. “Georgians deserve real leadership, not the socialist wishlist Warnock and Biden created.”
Biden has said he will pay for his projects with a tax on top incomes and businesses and has pledged not to raise taxes for Americans who earn less than $ 400,000 a year.