Whereas the United States is facing historic public health and economic crises caused by the coronavirus (COVID–19) pandemic that threatens the financial well-being of nearly every American family; Whereas even before the COVID–19 pandemic, the United States also faced a historic student loan crisis, which is currently holding back our struggling economy and restricting opportunity and prosperity for millions of American families; Whereas nearly 43,000,000 Americans currently hold more than $1,500,000,000,000 in Federal student loan debt; Whereas more than 9,000,000 Federal student loan borrowers are currently in default on those Federal student loans; Whereas the COVID–19 economic recession and historic unemployment have compounded stagnant wages, labor market discrimination, and rising costs of living, making it nearly impossible for many Americans to ever fully repay their student loans; Whereas this historic student debt crisis has left millions of Americans less prepared to weather the recession triggered by the COVID–19 pandemic as communities of color, which never fully recovered from the devastating effects of the previous economic recession, have been hit hardest by the devastating health and economic consequences of the COVID–19 pandemic; Whereas student debt disproportionately impacts borrowers of color, who face the worst effects of the student debt crisis, with— (1) Black students, due to ongoing structural barriers that have resulted in persistent racial inequities in incomes and wealth, forced to accrue more student debt and more often than their White peers; (2) Black student borrowers struggling more in student loan repayment, including defaulting at higher rates than their White peers; (3) nearly half of Black graduates owing more on their undergraduate student loans 4 years after graduation than they did when they received their degree