Congress

Comedian Hasan Minhaj Tells Congress That Student Borrowers Are ‘Treated Like Deadbeats'

Minhaj joined a panel of experts and consumer advocates who testified for four hours to the House Financial Services Committee about the widening student debt crisis and problems in student lending

Comedian and talk show host Hasan Minhaj made Congress members on Capitol Hill laugh Tuesday as he described the serious repercussions facing the nation's 45 million people who have student loan debts, NBC News reports.

"This issue is sidelining millions of Americans. People are putting off marriage, kids, homeownership and retirement — especially my generation," Minhaj, 33, told the House Financial Services Committee.

Minhaj focused on student loans during an episode of his Netflix series, "Patriot Act," earlier this year. And while he told the committee that he didn't personally have to worry about post-college debt, he surveyed his audience of about 200 people and learned they collectively owed more than $6 million in student loans.

"Granted, our audience is mainly unemployed poly sci majors, but that's still a lot of money," he said.

He added that "many borrowers are still treated like deadbeats because the government has put their financial futures in the hands of predatory, for-profit loan servicing companies."

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