Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced legislation on Friday that would prevent anti-Israel protesters from receiving student loan forgiveness if they are convicted of a crime stemming from campus demonstrations.
The Arkansas Republican’s No Bailouts for Campus Criminals Act, which is co-sponsored by 18 other GOP senators, would make any individual convicted of a state or federal offense in connection with a campus protest ineligible for any federal student loan relief.
“Americans who never went to college or responsibly paid off their debts shouldn’t have to pay off other people’s student loans,” Cotton said in a statement.
“They especially shouldn’t have to pay off the loans of Hamas sympathizers shutting down and defacing campuses,” he added.
The legislation was introduced in response to a wave of anti-Israel, antisemitic, and pro-terror protests that have swept college campuses across the country.
Some 200 anti-Israel protesters have been arrested since mid-April at Columbia University’s Manhattan campus.
The activists first set up a tent encampment on one of the main lawns at the Ivy League school before storming and occupying one the university’s historic buildings, forcing final exams to be postponed and students to take classes online.
“Hamas sympathizers engaging in criminal behavior on college campuses should be ineligible for student loan bailouts,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), one the bill’s co-sponsors, said in a statement.
“We must hold these criminals accountable and ensure taxpayer dollars do not go toward paying off their debt,” she added.
Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY) is leading companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
“Violent campus protestors laughably demand respect, amnesty, and even takeout food. Our bicameral bill ensures that not one student protestor convicted of criminal offenses is bailed out by student loan forgiveness. Not one dime of taxpayer money will fund these criminals,” Williams said in a statement.
President Biden has approved about $160 billion in student debt forgiveness for nearly 4.6 million borrowers through various executive actions in his first term.
The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates that the 81-year-old president’s student loan cancellations plans will cost taxpayers a whopping $559 billion over 10 years.
