[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6138 Received in Senate (RDS)]


109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6138


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 28, 2006

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To temporarily extend the programs under the Higher Education Act of 
                     1965, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Third Higher Education Extension Act 
of 2006''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PROGRAMS.

    Section 2(a) of the Higher Education Extension Act of 2005 (P.L. 
109-81; 20 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended by striking ``September 30, 
2006'' and inserting ``June 30, 2007''.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBLE LENDER TRUSTEE RELATIONSHIPS WITH ELIGIBLE 
              INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 435(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1085(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(7) Eligible lender trustees.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of this subsection, an eligible lender may not make 
        or hold a loan under this part as trustee for an institution of 
        higher education, or for an organization affiliated with an 
        institution of higher education, unless--
                    ``(A) the eligible lender is serving as trustee for 
                that institution or organization as of the date of 
                enactment of the Third Higher Education Extension Act 
                of 2006 under a contract that was originally entered 
                into before the date of enactment of such Act and that 
                continues in effect or is renewed after such date; and
                    ``(B) the institution or organization, and the 
                eligible lender, with respect to its duties as trustee, 
                each comply on and after January 1, 2007, with the 
                requirements of paragraph (2), except that--
                            ``(i) the requirements of clauses (i), 
                        (ii), (vi), and (viii) of paragraph (2)(A) 
                        shall, subject to clause (ii) of this 
                        subparagraph, only apply to the institution 
                        (including both an institution for which the 
                        lender serves as trustee and an institution 
                        affiliated with an organization for which the 
                        lender serves as trustee);
                            ``(ii) in the case of an organization 
                        affiliated with an institution--
                                    ``(I) the requirements of clauses 
                                (iii) and (v) of paragraph (2)(A) shall 
                                apply to the organization; and
                                    ``(II) the requirements of clause 
                                (viii) of paragraph (2)(A) shall apply 
                                to the institution or the organization 
                                (or both), if the institution or 
                                organization receives (directly or 
                                indirectly) the proceeds described in 
                                such clause;
                            ``(iii) the requirements of clauses (iv) 
                        and (ix) of paragraph (2)(A) shall not apply to 
                        the eligible lender, institution, or 
                        organization; and
                            ``(iv) the eligible lender, institution, 
                        and organization shall ensure that the loans 
                        made or held by the eligible lender as trustee 
                        for the institution or organization, as the 
                        case may be, are included in a compliance audit 
                        in accordance with clause (vii) of paragraph 
                        (2)(A).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall not 
apply with respect to any loan under part B of title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.) disbursed before January 
1, 2007.

SEC. 4. HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) Definition Changes.--Section 502(a) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5)--
                    (A) by inserting ``and'' after the semicolon at the 
                end of subparagraph (A);
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) by striking ``at the time of 
                        application,''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``at the end of the award 
                        year immediately preceding the date of 
                        application'' after ``Hispanic students'';
                    (C) by striking ``; and'' at the end of 
                subparagraph (B) and inserting a period; and
                    (D) by striking subparagraph (C); and
            (2) by striking paragraph (7).
    (b) Wait-Out Period Eliminated.--Section 504(a) of such Act (20 
U.S.C. 1101c(a)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) Award Period.--The Secretary may award a grant to a Hispanic-
serving institution under this title for 5 years.''.

SEC. 5. GUARANTY AGENCY ACCOUNT MAINTENANCE FEES.

    Section 458(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087h(b)) is amended by striking ``shall not exceed'' and inserting 
``shall be calculated on''.

SEC. 6. CANCELLATION OF STUDENT LOAN INDEBTEDNESS FOR SURVIVORS OF 
              VICTIMS OF THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, ATTACKS.

    (a) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) Eligible public servant.--The term ``eligible public 
        servant'' means an individual who, as determined in accordance 
        with regulations of the Secretary--
                    (A) served as a police officer, firefighter, other 
                safety or rescue personnel, or as a member of the Armed 
                Forces; and
                    (B) died (or dies) or became (or becomes) 
                permanently and totally disabled due to injuries 
                suffered in the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
            (2) Eligible victim.--The term ``eligible victim'' means an 
        individual who, as determined in accordance with regulations of 
        the Secretary, died (or dies) or became (or becomes) 
        permanently and totally disabled due to injuries suffered in 
        the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
            (3) Eligible parent.--The term ``eligible parent'' means 
        the parent of an eligible victim if--
                    (A) the parent owes a Federal student loan that is 
                a consolidation loan that was used to repay a PLUS loan 
                incurred on behalf of such eligible victim; or
                    (B) the parent owes a Federal student loan that is 
                a PLUS loan incurred on behalf of an eligible victim.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
            (5) Federal student loan.--The term ``Federal student 
        loan'' means any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part 
        B, D, or E of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
    (b) Relief From Indebtedness.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide for the 
        discharge or cancellation of--
                    (A) the Federal student loan indebtedness of the 
                spouse of an eligible public servant, as determined in 
                accordance with regulations of the Secretary, including 
                any consolidation loan that was used jointly by the 
                eligible public servant and his or her spouse to repay 
                the Federal student loans of the spouse and the 
                eligible public servant;
                    (B) the portion incurred on behalf of the eligible 
                victim (other than an eligible public servant), of a 
                Federal student loan that is a consolidation loan that 
                was used jointly by the eligible victim and his or her 
                spouse, as determined in accordance with regulations of 
                the Secretary, to repay the Federal student loans of 
                the eligible victim and his or her spouse;
                    (C) the portion of the consolidation loan 
                indebtedness of an eligible parent that was incurred on 
                behalf of an eligible victim; and
                    (D) the PLUS loan indebtedness of an eligible 
                parent that was incurred on behalf of an eligible 
                victim.
            (2) Method of discharge or cancellation.--A loan required 
        to be discharged or canceled under paragraph (1) shall be 
        discharged or canceled by the method used under section 437(a), 
        455(a)(1), or 464(c)(1)(F) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
        (20 U.S.C. 1087(a), 1087e(a)(1), 1087dd(c)(1)(F)), whichever is 
        applicable to such loan.
    (c) Facilitation of Claims.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) establish procedures for the filing of applications for 
        discharge or cancellation under this section by regulations 
        that shall be prescribed and published within 90 days after the 
        date of enactment of this Act and without regard to the 
        requirements of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, and 
        section 437 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 
        1232); and
            (2) take such actions as may be necessary to publicize the 
        availability of discharge or cancellation of Federal student 
        loan indebtedness under this section.
    (d) Availability of Funds for Payments.--Funds available for the 
purposes of making payments to lenders in accordance with section 
437(a) for the discharge of indebtedness of deceased or disabled 
individuals shall be available for making payments under section 437(a) 
to lenders of loans as required by this section.
    (e) Applicable to Outstanding Debt.--The provisions of this section 
shall be applied to discharge or cancel only Federal student loans 
(including consolidation loans) on which amounts were owed on September 
11, 2001, except that nothing in this section shall be construed to 
authorize any refunding of any repayment of a loan.
    (f) Deadlines and Procedures.--Sections 482(c) and 492 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089(c), 1098(a)) shall not 
apply to any regulations required by this section.

SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act, or in the Higher Education Extension Act of 
2005 as amended by this Act, shall be construed to limit or otherwise 
alter the authorizations of appropriations for, or the durations of, 
programs contained in the amendments made by the Higher Education 
Reconciliation Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171) to the provisions of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 
2004.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 27, 2006.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.