Williams proposes bill to bar convicted protesters from student loan forgiveness
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Rep. Brandon Williams, who represents Syracuse, introduced a bill last week that would bar people with convictions from student protests from receiving student loan forgiveness.
Under the bill – H.R. 8242 – any person who is convicted of an offense under federal or state law in connection to their conduct at a protest at any higher education institution would be ineligible for forgiveness, cancellation, waiver or modification of “certain Federal student loans.”
In a newsletter email sent Sunday, Williams said he proposed the bill to “ensure that no individual convicted of a crime committed at one of these protests has their student loans cleared” by taxpayer-funded student loan forgiveness programs. He referenced the recent protests on college campuses nationwide and said they have an “undercurrent” of condoning “violence, at best.”
“Demands? I don’t care what your demands are,” Williams posted on X Monday responding to SU’s protest. “Get the hell out of our community and never come back.”
