[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3169 Received in Senate (RDS)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3169


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 8, 2005

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
    To provide the Secretary of Education with waiver authority for 
students who are eligible for Pell Grants who are adversely affected by 
                          a natural disaster.

    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 ``Pell Grant Hurricane and Disaster 
Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. WAIVERS OF FEDERAL PELL GRANT REPAYMENT BY STUDENTS AFFECTED BY 
              DISASTERS.

    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 new 
subparagraph:
                    ``(D) Waivers of federal pell grant repayment by 
                students affected by disasters.--The Secretary may 
                waive the amounts that students are required to return 
                under this section with respect to Federal Pell Grants 
                if the withdrawals on which the returns are based are 
                withdrawals by students--
                            ``(i) who were residing in, employed in, or 
                        attending an institution of higher education 
                        that is located in an area in which the 
                        President has declared that a major disaster 
                        exists, in accordance with section 401 of the 
                        Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
                        Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170);
                            ``(ii) whose attendance was interrupted 
                        because of the impact of the disaster on the 
                        student or the institution; and
                            ``(iii) whose withdrawal ended within the 
                        academic year during which the designation 
                        occurred or during the next succeeding academic 
                        year.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 7, 2005.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.