The American Legion calls for White House to protect vets 'borrower defense'

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The head of the nation's largest veterans organization is imploring President Trump to sign legislation which would relieve students from repaying loans that were issued because they were defrauded by disreputable schools.

"Veterans have been aggressively targeted due to their service to our country," American Legion National Commander James W. "Bill" Oxford said. "Student veterans are a tempting target for certain online and for-profit schools to mislead with deceptive promises, while offering degrees and certificates of little-to-no value. We urge President Trump to sign House Joint Resolution 76, which allows for a 'borrower defense' to be used by students to obtain discharges to loans that were issued because of these false promises. This is the type of legislation that our delegates called for when they unanimously passed Resolution No. 82 at our 2017 national convention."

Oxford added that Trump stood with veterans in 2019 when he exercised his executive authority to order the Department of Education to forgive hundreds of millions of student loan debt for veterans with severe disabilities. "We are hoping that President Trump will once again come to the aid of student veterans," Oxford said. "Under current conditions, it is nearly impossible for veterans to successfully use a 'borrower defense.' The American Legion believes this needs to be fixed. We hope that he will sign this needed legislation."

The American Legion, www.legion.org, is the nation's largest veterans service organization and was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national defense, the care and wellbeing of U.S. military veterans, patriotic youth programs and Americanism.

Media contacts: Indianapolis: John Raughter (317) 630-1350, jraughter@legion.org; Washington: Paul Harris (202) 263-2991, pharris@legion.org

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SOURCE The American Legion