[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4152 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4152

To provide loan forgiveness under the Federal Perkins Loan program for 
                Federal, State, and local fire fighters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 9, 2007

 Mr. Sarbanes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide loan forgiveness under the Federal Perkins Loan program for 
                Federal, State, and local fire fighters.

    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 ``Fire Fighter Higher Education 
Incentive Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Fire fighters provide an immeasurable service to the 
        Nation, putting their lives, health, and safety on the line 
        every day to protect communities and citizens from everyday 
        emergencies and large-scale disasters.
            (2) According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
        nearly 78 percent of fire fighters age twenty-five to forty-
        four have pursued a higher education.
            (3) As modern fire fighter responsibilities have become 
        increasingly complex and more dependent on advanced technology, 
        achieving a highly educated fire service will enable fire 
        fighters to carry out a safe and effective response.
            (4) According to the International City/County Management 
        Association, the national average entrance salary for full-time 
        fire fighters is $34,688, while the average maximum salary is 
        $47,386.
            (5) The rising cost of college education, combined with the 
        relatively low wages earned by fire fighters, makes it 
        difficult for many full-time fire fighters to afford student 
        loan debt.

SEC. 3. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FIRE FIGHTERS.

    Section 465(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087ee(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (H), by striking ``or'' after 
                the semicolon;
                    (B) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by inserting before the matter following 
                subparagraph (I) the following:
                    ``(J) as a full-time employee in fire protection 
                activities, as described in section 3(y) of the Fair 
                Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 203(y)), but including a 
                full-time employee in fire protection activities of a 
                Federal department or agency (as well as an employee of 
                a State, municipality, county, or fire district).''; 
                and
            (2) in paragraph 3(A)(i), by striking ``or (I)'' and 
        inserting ``(I) or (J)''.
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