A bill to improve the benefits and protections provided for regular and reserve members of the Armed Forces deployed or mobilized in the interests of the national security of the United States.

Summary: Deployed Service Members Financial Security and Education Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay a monthly $1,000 allowance to a member of the armed forces for each month of deployment in the case of a member who is deployed for: (1) 191 consecutive days; or (2) 401 or more of the preceding 730 days.Amends the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 to apply a provision limiting the rate of interest on student loans during a period of military service to all student loans, including loans under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.Requires a person in the military service who is enrolled in an institution of higher education at the time of entry into service to be granted a leave of absence from the institution during the period of service and for one year thereafter. Requires such person, after such leave of absence, to be restored to the same educational status (including academic credits, scholarships or grants, and amount of tuition) attained before entry into service. Requires the institution to refund, or provide a credit for, tuition or fees paid for the period covering the leave of absence.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Deployed Service Members Financial 
Security and Education Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCE FOR LENGTHY OR NUMEROUS DEPLOYMENTS AND 
              FREQUENT MOBILIZATIONS.

    (a) Allowance Payable.--(1) Chapter 7 of title 37, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 437. Additional allowance for lengthy or numerous deployments 
              and frequent mobilizations
    ``(a) Monthly Allowance.--The Secretary of the military department 
concerned shall pay a monthly allowance to a member of the armed forces 
under the Secretary's jurisdiction for each month of deployment of the 
member described in paragraph (1) of subsection (b) and each month of 
active duty service of the member described in paragraph (2) of such 
subsection.
    ``(b) Service Covered.--Subsection (a) applies to a member for the 
following months:
            ``(1) A month that includes a day on which the member is 
        deployed and has, as of that day, been deployed for--
                    ``(A) 191 consecutive days; or
                    ``(B) 401 days or more out of the preceding 730 
                days.
            ``(2) A month that includes a day on which the member 
        serves on active duty to which the member, as a member of a 
        reserve component of an armed force, has been called or ordered 
        pursuant to a provision of law referred to in section 
        101(a)(13)(B) of title 10 for a period that begins within one 
        year after the date on which the member was released from 
        active duty served for a previous period under a call or order 
        pursuant to such a provision of law.
    ``(c) Amount.--The amount of the monthly allowance payable to a 
member under this section is $1,000.
    ``(d) Payment of Claims.--A claim of a member for payment of the 
monthly allowance under this section that is not fully substantiated by 
the recordkeeping system applicable to the member under section 991(c) 
of title 10 shall be paid if the member furnishes the Secretary 
concerned with other evidence determined by the Secretary as being 
sufficient to substantiate the claim.
    ``(e) Relationship to Other Allowances.--A monthly allowance 
payable to a member under this section is in addition to the per diem 
allowance payable under section 436 of this title and to any other pay 
or allowance payable to the member under any other provision of law.
    ``(f) Definition of Deployed.--In this section, the terms 
`deployed' and `deployment', with respect to a member, means that the 
member is deployed or in a deployment within the meaning of section 
991(b) of title 10 (including any definition of `deployment' prescribed 
under paragraph (4) of that section).''.
    (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 436 the 
following new item:

``437. Additional allowance for lengthy or numerous deployments and 
                            frequent mobilizations.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Section 437 of title 37, United States Code 
(as added by subsection (a)), shall take effect on the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and shall apply with respect to periods of 
deployment or active duty that begin before, on, or after such date, 
except that no allowance may be paid under such section for months that 
begin before the month in which this Act is enacted.

SEC. 3. RELIEF ON EDUCATIONAL MATTERS FOR PERSONS IN THE MILITARY 
              SERVICE UNDER THE SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' CIVIL RELIEF ACT 
              OF 1940.

    (a) Applicability of Interest Rate Limitation to Student Loans.--
Section 206 of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 (50 
U.S.C. App. 526) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``No obligation'';
            (2) by designating the second sentence as subsection (c) 
        and indenting the left margin of such subsection, as so 
        designated, two ems; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (a), as designated by 
        paragraph (1) of this subsection, the following new subsection 
        (b):
    ``(b) Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to student loans, 
including student loans under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), student loans under any other Federal 
student loan program, or any other student loans.''.
    (b) Preservation of Educational Status and Tuition.--Article VII. 
of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 590 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section:
    ``Sec. 704. (a) A person in the military service who is enrolled as 
a student at an institution of higher education at the time of entry 
into the military service shall be granted a leave of absence from the 
institution during the period of military service and for one year 
after the conclusion of the military service.
    ``(b)(1) A person on a leave of absence from an institution of 
higher education under subsection (a) shall be entitled, upon 
completion of the leave of absence, to be restored to the educational 
status such person had attained before entering into the military 
service as described in that subsection without loss of academic 
credits earned, scholarships or grants awarded, or, subject to 
paragraph (2), tuition and other fees paid before the entry of the 
person into the military service.
    ``(2)(A) An institution of higher education shall refund tuition or 
fees paid or credit the tuition and fees to the next period of 
enrollment after the person returns from the leave of absence, at the 
option of the person. Notwithstanding the 180-day limitation referred 
to in subsection (a)(2)(B) of section 484B of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091b), a person on a leave of absence under this 
section shall not be treated as having withdrawn for purposes of such 
section 484B unless the person fails to return upon the completion of 
the leave of absence.
    ``(B) If a person requests a refund for a period of enrollment, the 
percentage of the tuition and fees that shall be refunded shall be 
equal to 100 percent minus--
            ``(i) the percentage of the period of enrollment (for which 
        the tuition and fees were paid) that was completed (as 
        determined in accordance with subsection (d) of such section 
        484B) as of the day the person withdrew, provided that such 
        date occurs on or before the completion of 60 percent of the 
        period of enrollment; or
            ``(ii) 100 percent, if the day the person withdrew occurs 
        after the person has completed 60 percent of the period of 
        enrollment.''.