[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6477]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  ACTIVE RESERVISTS AND NATIONAL GUARD STUDENT LOAN RELIEF ACT OF 2003

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bonner). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to speak a little bit 
about H.R. 1168, which is the Active Reservists and National Guard 
Student Loan Relief Act of 2003.
  As we heard the President speak last night, this country will soon be 
going to war, and we will soon be sending many young men and young 
women off to fight for this country. Some of these soldiers who will be 
fighting in the Middle East and around the world have attended school, 
have attended college. They have student loans that they owe back to 
the government, and my legislation is very simple. It does two things.
  Once a soldier is activated, there is an automatic deferment of the 
loan, and the Federal Government will pay and subsidize the interest on 
that loan. I believe that is the least we can do for the soldiers that 
are going off and sacrificing. Many of these soldiers have mortgages, 
car payments, expenses. They are leaving their wives, their children 
behind, and many of them are taking a cut in pay.
  I think it is a very simple piece of legislation. I encourage this 
body to pass it and include it in the supplemental. This was included 
and used by the first President Bush during Operation Desert Storm, and 
I think it should be promised to our troops today.
  One example is that if a soldier has $50,000 in loans taken out, that 
the Federal Government will step in and will save this soldier $2,600 a 
year. If a person is off, they are away from their family, they are 
away from their kids, can we please provide a little bit of peace of 
mind for some of our soldiers who will be over there?
  I think the Active Reservists and National Guard Student Loan Relief 
Act of 2003 has received thus far strong bipartisan support. The 
liberals, the conservatives and everyone in between have supported this 
legislation, and I think it is because it is good for the soldiers and 
it is good for this country, and I think it sets a tone, Mr. Speaker, 
that we are behind our servicemen and women. We are behind our 
soldiers, and those of us who have been opposed to the war and those 
who have been supportive of the war, regardless now, our job is to 
support our troops, and this is a simple piece of legislation I think 
where we can put the talk into action and make sure that we provide a 
little bit of peace of mind for some of the soldiers who have been in 
college and have student loans.
  I encourage this body to pass this piece of legislation, and it 
really should be included in the supplemental that is going to fund the 
war.

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