[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 19 (Monday, January 29, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S550-S551]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. Cornyn):
  S. 2351. A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 
that an individual may remain eligible to participate in the teacher 
loan forgiveness program under title IV of such Act if the individual's 
period of consecutive years of employment as a full-time teacher is 
interrupted because the individual is the spouse of a member of the 
Armed Forces who is relocated during the school year pursuant to 
military orders for a permanent change of duty station, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to bring the Senate's 
attention to the bipartisan Preserving Teacher Loan Forgiveness for 
Military Spouses Act of 2018, which I am introducing with the Senior 
Senator from Texas today. This legislation eliminates a barrier for 
teachers in military families to earn Federal student loan forgiveness 
for their years of public service.
  The Department of Education's Teacher Loan Forgiveness program 
incentivizes teachers to commit to students in our lowest income school 
districts in exchange for up to $17,500 in Federal Student loan 
forgiveness. Teachers qualify for the program once they have taught 
full-time for at least 5 consecutive years at a low income school or 
educational service agency. Teachers who are forced to move in the 
middle of the school year to follow their spouse lose eligibility for 
the program and must restart their 5 years of service under current 
law.
  Last summer, a Maryland constituent brought to my attention the 
barriers her daughter faced when seeking Federal student loan 
forgiveness despite her commitment to public service. Her daughter, a 
teacher married to a member of the military, was in the middle of her 
fifth consecutive year teaching at one of Maryland's lower income 
schools. As any military spouse knows, relocation or reassignment 
orders can come at any time, upending the lives of the service member 
and their family. Rather than being able to complete a 5th year of 
teaching in a Maryland school, this family had to relocate with 3 
months left in the school year. Despite this family's double commitment 
to service for our military and our schoolchildren, this military 
spouse missed the opportunity to have a portion of her Federal student 
loans

[[Page S551]]

forgiven. No military spouse should be punished for following his or 
her spouse's relocation or reassignment.
  The legislation that the Senior Senator from Texas and I have 
introduced is a common sense proposal to allow military spouses to earn 
the benefits that they have dutifully worked towards and continue to 
incentivize individuals to teach our hardest to educate children. Our 
legislation provides a waiver from the Department of Education's 
Teacher Loan Forgiveness program's 5 consecutive years of service 
requirement for qualified military spouses if their spouse is relocated 
during the school year pursuant to military orders from the Armed 
Forces. This waiver will allow individuals to remain eligible for the 
Teacher Loan Forgiveness program should they resume teaching full-time 
at a qualifying low-income school district within one year of their 
relocation. In addition, this legislation requires the Department of 
Education to provide a report to Congress every two years on the number 
of military spouses who remained eligible for Teacher Loan Forgiveness 
due to this legislation.
  I urge my colleagues to join in this effort to help families who are 
wholly committed to public service by supporting the Preserving Teacher 
Loan Forgiveness for Military Spouses Act. No family in service of our 
Nation should lose out on earned benefits due to a technicality.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2351

         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 ``Preserving Teacher Loan 
     Forgiveness for Military Spouses Act of 2018''.

     SEC. 2. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN STUDENT LOAN 
                   FORGIVENESS OR LOAN CANCELLATION PROGRAM FOR 
                   TEACHERS WHOSE PERIOD OF CONSECUTIVE EMPLOYMENT 
                   IS INTERRUPTED BECAUSE OF MILITARY ORDERS 
                   REQUIRING SPOUSE TO RELOCATE TO NEW RESIDENCE.

         (a) Continuing Eligibility.--
         (1) Part b loans.--Section 428J(g) of the Higher 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-10(g)) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
         ``(4) Continuing eligibility for certain military 
     spouses.--
         ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of 
     subsection (b), an individual who is employed in a full-time 
     teaching position that meets the requirements of this section 
     for a period that includes 5 complete but nonconsecutive 
     years may be eligible for loan forgiveness pursuant to such 
     subsection, if the individual was a qualified military spouse 
     with respect to any year during such period for which the 
     individual was not employed as a full-time teacher in a 
     school or location meeting the requirements of this section.
         ``(B) Qualified military spouse defined.--In this 
     paragraph, the term `qualified military spouse' means, with 
     respect to a year, an individual who--
         ``(i) during the previous year, served as a teacher in a 
     school or location meeting the requirements of subparagraph 
     (A) of subsection (b)(1) and met the requirements of 
     subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(1);
         ``(ii) is the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces who 
     is relocated during the year pursuant to military orders for 
     a permanent change of duty station;
         ``(iii) did not serve as a teacher in a school or 
     location meeting the requirements of subparagraph (A) of 
     subsection (b)(1) during the year or any portion of the year 
     because the individual accompanied the spouse to a new 
     residence as a result of such military orders; and
         ``(iv) during the following year, resumed service as a 
     teacher in a school or location meeting the requirements of 
     subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(1) and met the 
     requirements of subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(1).
         ``(C) Reports to congress.--Not later than 90 days after 
     the end of the second academic year during which this 
     paragraph is in effect, and every 2 years thereafter, the 
     Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the 
     number of individuals who, as a result of this paragraph, 
     remained eligible for loan forgiveness pursuant to subsection 
     (b) during the 2 most recent academic years.''.
         (2) Part d loans.--Section 460(g) of the Higher Education 
     Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087j(g)) is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:
         ``(4) Continuing eligibility for certain military 
     spouses.--
         ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of 
     subsection (b), an individual who is employed in a full-time 
     teaching position that meets the requirements of this section 
     for a period that includes 5 complete but nonconsecutive 
     years may be eligible for loan cancellation pursuant to such 
     subsection, if the individual was a qualified military spouse 
     with respect to any year during such period for which the 
     individual was not employed as a full-time teacher in a 
     school or location meeting the requirements of this section.
         ``(B) Qualified military spouse defined.--In this 
     paragraph, the term `qualified military spouse' means, with 
     respect to a year, an individual who--
         ``(i) during the previous year, served as a teacher in a 
     school or location meeting the requirements of subparagraph 
     (A) of subsection (b)(1) and met the requirements of 
     subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(1);
         ``(ii) is the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces who 
     is relocated during the year pursuant to military orders for 
     a permanent change of duty station;
         ``(iii) did not serve as a teacher in a school or 
     location meeting the requirements of subparagraph (A) of 
     subsection (b)(1) during the year or any portion of the year 
     because the individual accompanied the spouse to a new 
     residence as a result of such military orders; and
         ``(iv) during the following year, resumed service as a 
     teacher in a school or location meeting the requirements of 
     subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(1) and met the 
     requirements of subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(1).
         ``(C) Reports to congress.--Not later than 90 days after 
     the end of the second academic year during which this 
     paragraph is in effect, and every 2 years thereafter, the 
     Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the 
     number of individuals who, as a result of this paragraph, 
     remained eligible for loan cancellation pursuant to 
     subsection (b) during the 2 most recent academic years.''.
         (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection 
     (a) shall apply with respect to individuals who first become 
     employed as full-time teachers on or after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
                                 ______