[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 380 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 380

To prohibit abuse of the authority of the Secretary of Education under 
   the HEROES Act in connection with the COVID-19 national emergency 
                  declaration, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 17, 2023

 Mr. Good of Virginia (for himself, Mr. McClintock, and Mrs. Miller of 
  Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit abuse of the authority of the Secretary of Education under 
   the HEROES Act in connection with the COVID-19 national emergency 
                  declaration, 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 ``Federal Student Loan Integrity 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to--
            (1) clarify the intent of Congress with respect to the 
        authorities provided to the Secretary of Education under the 
        Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 
        (20 U.S.C. 1098bb) (in this section referred to as the ``HEROES 
        Act''); and
            (2) prevent further abuse of the Secretary's authority 
        provided under the HEROES Act in connection with the COVID-19 
        national emergency declaration.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) As of March 13, 2020, there has been a moratorium on 
        payments, accrual of interest, and collections on all Federal 
        student loans.
            (2) The moratorium is the largest benefit provided by 
        taxpayers in the history of the Federal student loan program.
            (3) Excluding section 3513 of the CARES Act (20 U.S.C. 1001 
        note), this benefit was not explicitly authorized by Congress.
            (4) Since December 4, 2020, the Secretary of Education has 
        cited the HEROES Act as the authority to extend the moratorium 
        on student loan payments for ``affected individuals'', in 
        connection with the March 13, 2020, national emergency 
        declaration.
            (5) The Secretary has undermined the intent of Congress and 
        abused its authority provided by the HEROES Act to amend 
        statutory provisions of title IV of the Higher Education Act 
        (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) to provide benefits for borrowers 
        beyond those deemed as ``affected individuals''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION.

    The Secretary of Education may not use the authority under section 
2(a)(1) of the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act 
of 2003 (20 U.S.C. 1098bb(a)(1)) to issue a waiver or modification, or 
to extend a waiver or modification issued before the date of enactment 
of this Act, of any statutory or regulatory provision applicable to the 
student financial assistance programs under title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) in connection with the 
national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020, 
pursuant to the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 
(Proclamation 9994).

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON WAIVERS AND MODIFICATIONS.

    Section 2(a)(1) of the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for 
Students Act of 2003 (20 U.S.C. 1098bb(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Notwithstanding'' and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Authority of secretary.--Except as provided 
                in subparagraph (B), notwithstanding''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Limitations.--A waiver or modification under 
                this subsection may not--
                            ``(i) provide for a period that exceeds 30 
                        days during which--
                                    ``(I) payments of principal or 
                                interest due on loans made, insured, or 
                                guaranteed under part B, D, or E of 
                                title IV of the Act are suspended; or
                                    ``(II) interest does not accrue on 
                                such loans; or
                            ``(ii) result in the discharge or 
                        cancellation of any outstanding balance owed on 
                        a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part 
                        B, D, or E of title IV of the Act.''.
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