1 million signatures delivered asking Congress to do more than low interest rates


Congress may have a deal on extending the discounted interest rate on federal student loans, but there are a million people who want them to go further, the Huffington Post reports. Robert Applebaum, a former assistant district attorney from New York, delivered 1 million signatures Thursday from his petition for Congress to pass H.R. 4170, the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012, at the House side of the Capitol. He was joined by the bill’s author, Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.), Tony Mitchell, Jr., Congressional Liaison of the National Black Law Students Association, and Getachew Kassa, who is Legislative Director for the U.S. Student Association. About 20 students and college graduates and Occupy Colleges activists also joined the group.

Their argument: forgiving student debt would fix the economy.

“Forgiving student loan debt would have an immediate stimulating effect on the economy,” Applebaum argued. “Responsible people who did nothing other than pursue a higher education would have hundreds, if not thousands of extra dollars per month to spend, fueling the economy now.”

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