[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 863 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 863

 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow soldiers to serve 
   their country without being disadvantaged financially by Federal 
                         student aid programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 10, 2003

 Mr. Edwards (for himself, Mr. Miller, Mr. Bingaman, Ms. Mikulski, and 
 Mrs. Murray) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow soldiers to serve 
   their country without being disadvantaged financially by Federal 
                         student aid programs.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fairness for America's Soldiers in 
Higher Education Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. REFUND POLICY.

    Section 484B(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1091b(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Students on active duty during a war or 
                national emergency.--Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A), 
                (B), and (C), a student who withdraws from an 
                institution of higher education to serve on active duty 
                during a war or national emergency shall not be 
                required to repay any grant assistance that is 
                otherwise required to be repayed under this section.''.

SEC. 3. DEFERMENT DURING ACTIVE DUTY.

    (a) FFEL and Direct Subsidized Loans.--Section 428(b)(1)(M) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078(b)(1)(M)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (ii), by striking ``or'' after the semicolon;
            (2) in clause (iii), by inserting ``or'' after the 
        semicolon; and
            (3) by inserting after clause (iii) the following:
                            ``(iv) during which the borrower--
                                    ``(I) is a member of a regular 
                                component on active duty during a war 
                                or during a national emergency declared 
                                by the President or Congress, and 
                                receives compensation described in 
                                section 112(a) of the Internal Revenue 
                                Code of 1986;
                                    ``(II) is on active duty under 
                                section 688, 12301(a), 12301(d), 
                                12301(g), 12302, 12304, 12306, 12307, 
                                or 12406, or chapter 15 of title 10, 
                                United States Code, or any other 
                                provision of law, during a war or 
                                during a national emergency declared by 
                                the President or Congress, regardless 
                                of the location at which such active 
                                duty service is performed; or
                                    ``(III) in the case of a member of 
                                the National Guard, is on full-time 
                                National Guard duty (as defined in 
                                section 101(d)(5) of title 10, United 
                                States Code) under a call to active 
                                service authorized by the President or 
                                the Secretary of Defense for a period 
                                of more than 30 consecutive days under 
                                section 12402 of title 10, United 
                                States Code, or section 502(f) of title 
                                32, United States Code, for purposes of 
                                responding to a national emergency 
                                declared by the President and supported 
                                by Federal funds.''.
    (b) Consolidation Loans.--Section 428C(b)(4)(C)(ii) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-3(b)(4)(C)(ii)) is amended--
            (1) in subclause (II), by striking ``or'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in subclause (III), by striking ``or (II)'' and 
        inserting ``, (II) or (III)'';
            (3) by redesignating subclause (III) (as so amended) as 
        subclause (IV); and
            (4) by inserting after subclause (II) the following:
                    ``(III) by the Secretary, in the case of a 
                consolidation loan of a student who is on an active 
                duty deferment under section 428(b)(1)(M)(iv); or''.
    (c) FFEL and Direct Unsubsidized Loans.--Section 428H(e) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-8(e)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
            ``(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), interest on loans 
        made under this section for which payments of principal are 
        deferred because the student is on an active duty deferment 
        under section 428(b)(1)(M)(iv) shall be paid by the 
        Secretary.''.
    (d) Perkins Loans.--Section 464(c)(2)(A) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087dd(c)(2)(A)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (iii), by striking ``or'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in clause (iv), by inserting ``or'' after the 
        semicolon; and
            (3) by inserting after clause (iv) the following:
                            ``(v) during which the borrower--
                                    ``(I) is a member of a regular 
                                component on active duty during a war 
                                or during a national emergency declared 
                                by the President or Congress, and 
                                receives compensation described in 
                                section 112(a) of the Internal Revenue 
                                Code of 1986;
                                    ``(II) is on active duty under 
                                section 688, 12301(a), 12301(d), 
                                12301(g), 12302, 12304, 12306, 12307, 
                                or 12406, or chapter 15 of title 10, 
                                United States Code, or any other 
                                provision of law, during a war or 
                                during a national emergency declared by 
                                the President or Congress, regardless 
                                of the location at which such active 
                                duty service is performed; or
                                    ``(III) in the case of a member of 
                                the National Guard, is on full-time 
                                National Guard duty (as defined in 
                                section 101(d)(5) of title 10, United 
                                States Code) under a call to active 
                                service authorized by the President or 
                                the Secretary of Defense for a period 
                                of more than 30 consecutive days under 
                                section 12402 of title 10, United 
                                States Code, or section 502(f) of title 
                                32, United States Code, for purposes of 
                                responding to a national emergency 
                                declared by the President and supported 
                                by Federal funds.''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to loans for which the first disbursement is made on 
or after July 1, 1993, to an individual who is a new borrower (within 
the meaning of section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1003)) on or after such date.
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