I

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2198

To provide funding for student loan repayment for public attorneys.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 21, 2003

Mr. SCOTT of Georgia (for himself, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, and Mr. WAMP)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To provide funding for student loan repayment for public

attorneys.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prosecutors and De5 fenders Incentive Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT FOR PUBLIC ATTOR7 NEYS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Higher Education Act of

9 1965 is amended by inserting after section 428K (20

10 U.S.C. 1078–11) the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 428L. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR PUBLIC ATTORNEYS.

2 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en3 courage qualified individuals to enter and continue em4 ployment as prosecutors and public defenders.

5 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

6 ‘‘(1) PROSECUTOR.—The term ‘prosecutor’

7 means a full-time employee of a State or local agen8 cy who—

9 ‘‘(A) is continually licensed to practice law;

10 and

11 ‘‘(B) prosecutes criminal cases at the State

12 or local level.

13 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC DEFENDER.—The term ‘public de14 fender’ means an attorney who—

15 ‘‘(A) is continually licensed to practice law;

16 and

17 ‘‘(B) is a full-time employee of a State or

18 local agency, or of a nonprofit organization op19 erating under a contract with a State or unit of

20 local government or as a full time Federal de21 fender attorney employed in a defender organi22 zation established pursuant to subsection (g) of

23 section 3006A of title 18, United States Code,

24 which provides legal representation services to

25 indigent persons in criminal cases.
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1 ‘‘(3) STUDENT LOAN.—The term ‘student loan’

2 means—

3 ‘‘(A) a loan made, insured, or guaranteed

4 under this part; and

5 ‘‘(B) a loan made under part D or E.

6 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—For the purpose of

7 encouraging qualified individuals to enter and continue

8 employment as prosecutors and public defenders, the Sec9 retary shall carry out a program, through the holder of

10 a loan, of assuming the obligation to repay (by direct pay11 ments on behalf of a borrower) a qualified loan amount

12 for a loan made under section 428 or 428H, in accordance

13 with subsection (d), for any borrower who—

14 ‘‘(1) is employed as a prosecutor or public de15 fender; and

16 ‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the

17 borrower seeks forgiveness.

18 ‘‘(d) TERMS OF AGREEMENT.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive re20 payment benefits under this section, a borrower shall

21 enter into a written agreement that specifies that—

22 ‘‘(A) the borrower will remain employed as

23 a prosecutor or public defender for a required

24 period of service specified in the agreement (but
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1 not less than 3 years), unless involuntarily sep2 arated from that employment;

3 ‘‘(B) if the borrower is involuntarily sepa4 rated from that employment on account of mis5 conduct, or voluntarily separates from that em6 ployment, before the end of the period specified

7 in the agreement, the borrower will repay the

8 Secretary the amount of any benefits received

9 by such employee under this section;

10 ‘‘(C) if the borrower is required to repay

11 an amount to the Secretary under subpara12 graph (B) and fails to repay the amount de13 scribed in subparagraph (B), a sum equal to

14 the amount is recoverable by the Government

15 from the employee (or such employee’s estate, if

16 applicable) by such method as is provided by

17 law for the recovery of amounts owing to the

18 Government;

19 ‘‘(D) the Secretary may waive, in whole or

20 in part, a right of recovery under this sub21 section if it is shown that recovery would be

22 against equity and good conscience or against

23 the public interest; and

24 ‘‘(E) the Secretary shall make student loan

25 payments under this section for the period of
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1 the agreement, subject to the availability of ap2 propriations.

3 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENTS.—Any amount repaid by, or

4 recovered from, an individual (or an estate) under

5 this subsection shall be credited to the appropriation

6 account from which the amount involved was origi7 nally paid. Any amount so credited shall be merged

8 with other sums in such account and shall be avail9 able for the same purposes and period, and subject

10 to the same limitations (if any), as the sums with

11 which the amount was merged.

12 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—

13 ‘‘(A) STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT

14 AMOUNT.—Student loan payments made by the

15 Secretary under this section shall be made sub16 ject to such terms, limitations, or conditions as

17 may be mutually agreed to by the borrower con18 cerned and the Secretary in the agreement de19 scribed in this subsection, except that the

20 amount paid by the Secretary under this section

21 may not exceed—

22 ‘‘(i) $6,000 for any borrower in any

23 calendar year; or

24 ‘‘(ii) a total of $40,000 in the case of

25 any borrower.
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1 ‘‘(B) BEGINNING OF PAYMENTS.—Nothing

2 in this section shall be construed to authorize

3 the Secretary to pay any amount to reimburse

4 a borrower for any repayments made by such

5 borrower prior to the date on which the Sec6 retary entered into an agreement with the em7 ployee under this subsection.

8 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL AGREEMENTS.—On completion of

9 the required period of service under such an agreement,

10 the borrower concerned and the Secretary may enter into

11 an additional agreement described in subsection (d) for

12 a successive period of service specified in the agreement

13 (which may be less than 3 years).

14 ‘‘(f) AWARD BASIS; PRIORITY.—

15 ‘‘(1) AWARD BASIS.—The Secretary shall pro16 vide repayment benefits under this section on a first17 come, first-served basis (subject to paragraph (2))

18 and subject to the availability of appropriations.

19 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri20 ority in providing repayment benefits under this sec21 tion for a fiscal year to a borrower who—

22 ‘‘(A) received repayment benefits under

23 this section for the preceding fiscal year; and

24 ‘‘(B) has completed less than 3 years of

25 the first required period of service specified for
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1 the borrower in an agreement entered into

2 under subsection (d).

3 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to

4 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out

5 the provisions of this section.

6 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

8 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 and such sums as may

9 be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year.’’.

10 (b) CANCELLATION OF LOANS.—

11 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 465(a)(2)(F) of the

12 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

13 1087ee(a)(2)(F)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, as a

14 public defender (as defined in section 428L), or as

15 a full time Federal defender attorney employed in a

16 defender organization established pursuant to sub17 section (g) of section 3006A of title 18, United

18 States Code’’ after ‘‘agencies’’.

19 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

20 by this subsection shall apply to—

21 (A) eligible loans made before, on, or after

22 the date of enactment of this Act; and

23 (B) service as a prosecutor or public de24 fender that is provided on or after the date of

25 enactment of this Act.
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1 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub2 section or the amendment made by this subsection

3 shall be construed to authorize the Secretary to pay

4 any amount to reimburse a borrower for any repay5 ments made by such borrower prior to the date on

6 which the borrower became eligible for cancellation

7 under section 465(a) of such Act (20 U.S.C.

8 1087ee(a)).

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