[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 43 (Thursday, March 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1598-S1599]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
        Durbin, and Ms. Warren):
  S. 2719. A bill to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to 
improve the protections provided to members of the uniformed services 
and their families, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have often said when our nation sends 
men and women to war we commit to taking care of them when they return 
home. We also promise them important legal protections to allow them to 
focus on their mission and in recognition that while they are deployed 
or away from home servicemembers often do not have the resources to 
respond to a range of financial and legal issues. Despite these 
protections, too many servicemembers have been cheated on their student 
loans, on their mortgages, and on their credit cards.
  When our men and women in uniform are serving our country, they 
should not have to worry about whether our government is going to hold 
up its end of the bargain and fulfill its responsibilities to them.
  So today I introduce the SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act of 
2016, which will put an end to many of these predatory practices and 
give servicemembers and the government the tools they need to fight 
back when banks and student loan servicers deny servicemembers their 
rights.
  In 2014, I learned of allegations that at least one major student 
loan servicer had been overcharging men and women in uniform on their 
student loans while they were on active duty. That's unacceptable. One 
servicemember overcharged on their student loans is one too many.
  That is why this bill will end the unfair and improper practices of 
student loan servicers by requiring them to automatically apply the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, SCRA, interest rate cap, respond 
within 14 days to any request for SCRA protections, and provide a full 
explanation any time they deny an SCRA protection, along with clear 
instructions on how to remedy the situation so the servicemember can 
receive that protection. It will also require student loan servicers to 
have a designated service representative or point of contact for 
servicemembers and ensure these individuals are properly trained on the 
needs of servicemembers, how the military operates, and the protections 
required by SCRA, the Higher Education Act, and other laws.
  The bill will hold servicers accountable for their conduct and 
treatment of servicemembers by requiring them to retain all 
communications with servicemembers so we can conduct thorough 
oversight.
  The SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act will also hold the 
Department of Education accountable for enforcing standards and the law 
with its student loan servicers. Following numerous allegations of 
servicemembers being mistreated by student loan servicers who were not 
complying with the SCRA interest rate caps, and at least 69,000 
servicemembers who were overcharged by one Federal contractor, I asked 
the Department to review how many servicemembers had been improperly 
denied their benefits under SCRA. Shockingly, the Department told us 
that the servicers were complying in the ``vast majority of cases.'' 
This was inconsistent with what the Department of Justice and the 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had found.
  I wrote to the Department of Education's Inspector General and asked 
her to review the Department's findings. Two weeks ago the IG released 
their report, and it showed that instead of doing a thorough 
investigation to find out exactly how many servicemembers may have been 
overcharged on their student loans, the Department's review was riddled 
with errors and papered over mishandling of military borrowers' loans.
  The bill I am introducing today will require sufficient notice to be 
given when a loan is transferred or sold, and that all benefits or 
protections for the servicemember are seamlessly transferred to the new 
loan servicer. It will

[[Page S1599]]

also forgive all Federal and private student loan debt in the event the 
servicemember dies in the line of duty.
  The SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act also expands protections 
beyond student loans. I was concerned when several years ago some of 
the nation's largest mortgage servicers improperly overcharged and 
foreclosed upon deployed servicemembers in violation of the SCRA. 
Thousands of servicemembers and veterans were wronged over several 
years. After those allegations came to light, and after the Department 
of Justice reached a settlement with those mortgage servicers, GAO 
released a report in 2014 looking at the importance of mortgage and 
foreclosure protections in the SCRA. The results were concerning, 
especially when they found at one mortgage servicer that 82 percent of 
loans that would have benefitted from the SCRA's interest rate cap 
still had rates in excess of 6 percent.
  This bill would reduce the interest rate cap to three percent to 
provide meaningful protection to servicemembers, including a zero 
percent cap for servicemembers eligible for hostile fire or imminent 
danger pay. It would expand the SCRA interest rate protection to all of 
a servicemember's debt regardless of when it was incurred, in order to 
cover consolidation loans and in recognition that the same challenges 
exist for military borrowers regardless of when a debt was first 
incurred. It would also strengthen the protections that prevent 
judgements against a servicemember who cannot appear in court because 
of military service.
  As the daughter of a World War II veteran, I know how much our 
military families sacrifice on behalf of their country. So I believe 
protecting our military men and women from predatory practices is an 
absolutely essential commitment we make to them. We will not allow our 
servicemembers to be taken advantage of.
  Finally, as we have seen too often, these protections are only as 
good as our ability to enforce the law and hold people accountable. The 
SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act will give servicemembers, the 
Department of Justice, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the 
legal and oversight tools they need to hold entities accountable. It 
would clarify that servicemembers may bring a private right of action 
to enforce their rights and make arbitration clauses unenforceable 
unless all parties agree after a dispute arises. The bill will give the 
Attorney General the authority to issue civil investigative demands in 
SCRA investigations. It would double the fines against parties found to 
be violating the protections afforded by the SCRA.
  With the number of Federal entities involved, it is essential the 
departments and agencies work collaboratively to protect 
servicemembers. The Defense Department must ensure it is providing 
clear, useful information to servicemembers on their rights and how to 
invoke them, and that the training stays current. I especially commend 
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for its dedicated work on 
behalf of our men and women in uniform.
  Our servicemembers deserve better than what they have gotten over the 
last several years. The SCRA Enhancement and Improvement Act will go a 
long way to ensuring our servicemembers are protected, putting a stop 
to the predatory practices of banks and student loan servicers, and 
change the apathy that has characterized the Department of Education's 
oversight. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
                                 ______