[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2535 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2535

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow the consolidation of 
student loans under the Federal Family Loan Program and the Direct Loan 
                                Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 24, 1997

 Mr. McKeon (for himself, Mr. Goodling, Mr. Boehner, Mrs. Roukema, Mr. 
Barrett of Nebraska, Mr. Riggs, Mr. Graham, Mr. McIntosh, Mr. Norwood, 
Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Peterson of 
 Pennsylvania, and Mr. Upton) introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow the consolidation of 
student loans under the Federal Family Loan Program and the Direct Loan 
                                Program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Student 
Loan Consolidation Act of 1997''.
    (b) References.--Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever 
in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an 
amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference 
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).

SEC. 2. LOAN CONSOLIDATION PROVISIONS.

    (a) Definition of Loans Eligible for Consolidation.--Section 
428C(a)(4) (20 U.S.C. 1078-3(a)(4)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as 
        subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following new 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(C) made under part D of this title, except that 
                loans made under such part shall be eligible student 
                loans for consolidation only during the period 
                beginning on the date of enactment of the Emergency 
                Student Loan Consolidation Act of 1997 and ending on 
                October 1, 1998;''.
    (b) Terms of Consolidation Loans.--Section 428C(b)(4)(C)(ii) is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``made before the date of enactment of the 
        Emergency Student Loan Consolidation Act of 1997, or after 
        October 1, 1998,'' after ``consolidation loan'' in subclause 
        (I);
            (2) by striking ``or'' at the end of subclause (I);
            (3) by inserting ``or (II)'' before the semicolon at the 
        end of subclause (II);
            (4) by redesignating subclause (II) as subclause (III); and
            (5) by inserting after subclause (I) the following new 
        subclause:
                                    ``(II) by the Secretary, in the 
                                case of a consolidation loan made on or 
                                after the date of enactment of the 
                                Emergency Student Loan Consolidation 
                                Act of 1997 and before October 1, 1998, 
                                except that the Secretary shall pay 
                                such interest only on that portion of 
                                the loan that repays Federal Stafford 
                                Loans for which the student borrower 
                                received an interest subsidy under 
                                section 428 or Federal Direct Stafford 
                                Loans for which the borrower received 
                                an interest subsidy under section 455; 
                                or''.
    (c) Interest Rate.--Section 428C(c)(1) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subparagraph:
            ``(D) A consolidation loan made on or after the date of 
        enactment of the Emergency Student Loan Consolidation Act of 
        1997 and before October 1, 1998, shall bear interest at an 
        annual rate on the unpaid principal balance of the loan that is 
        equal to the rate specified in section 427A(f).''.

SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE REDUCTIONS.

    Section 458(a)(1) (20 U.S.C. 1087h(a)(1)) is amended by striking 
``$532,000,000'' and inserting ``$507,000,000''.
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