I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2562

To provide financial assistance to law school graduates who choose to accept 

employment in a public interest position. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2003

Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To provide financial assistance to law school graduates who 

choose to accept employment in a public interest position.

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 ‘‘Public Interest Lawyer 

5 Assistance and Relief Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The ability to repay financial obligations in9 curred in obtaining a legal education has become a 
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1 deterrent to law school graduates accepting public 

2 interest employment. 

3 (2) The increasing level of educational debt 

4 leads recent law school graduates to accept positions 

5 with private firms offering high salaries rather than 

6 with lower paying public interest organizations. 

7 (3) This has led to a decrease in the number 

8 of attorneys available to serve public needs in gov9 ernment, non-profit, and special interest capacities. 

10 (4) The establishment of a Federal loan repay11 ment assistance program for attorneys entering pub12 lic interest jobs will increase access to legal services 

13 in these areas by helping recent law school grad14 uates to meet their educational financial obligations. 

15 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 

16 (a) PROGRAM.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 

18 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

19 carry out a program of assuming the obligation to 

20 repay, pursuant to subsection (c), a loan made, in21 sured, or guaranteed under part B or D of title IV 

22 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (excluding 

23 loans made under sections 428B and 428C of such 

24 Act or comparable loans made under part D of such 

25 title) for any borrower who enters into an agreement 
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1 with the Secretary to complete 3 years of service as 

2 a lawyer employed in a public interest position. 

3 (2) AWARD BASIS; DEFERMENT.—

4 (A) AWARD BASIS.—Loan repayment 

5 under this section shall be on a first-come, first6 serve basis and subject to the availability of ap7 propriations, and to any limitations imposed by 

8 the Secretary under section 5. The Secretary 

9 shall, on the basis of an application that com10 plies with subsection (d)(1), select from among 

11 eligible applicants the borrowers with which to 

12 enter into the agreements described in para13 graph (1). 

14 (B) DEFERMENT.—The Secretary shall, by 

15 regulation, provide for the deferment of repay16 ment of loans made, insured, or guaranteed 

17 under part B or D of title IV of the Higher 

18 Education Act of 1965 (excluding loans made 

19 under sections 428B and 428C of such Act or 

20 comparable loans made under part D of such 

21 title) for borrowers who enter into such agree22 ments and provide evidence in accordance with 

23 such regulations of employment in a position 

24 qualifying for repayment of such loans under 

25 paragraph (1). 
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1 (3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is author2 ized to prescribe such regulations as may be nec3 essary to carry out the provisions of this section. 

4 (b) LOAN REPAYMENT.—

5 (1) ELIGIBLE AMOUNT.—Except as provided by 

6 the Secretary pursuant to section 5, the amount the 

7 Secretary may repay on behalf of any individual 

8 under this section shall not exceed the greater of—

9 (A) the sum of the principal amounts out10 standing of the individual’s qualifying loans at 

11 the beginning of the first year of service de12 scribed in subsection (a)(1); or 

13 (B) a total of more than $20,000. 

14 (2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

15 shall be construed to authorize the refunding of any 

16 repayment of a loan made under part B or D of title 

17 IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

18 (3) INTEREST.—If a portion of a loan is repaid 

19 by the Secretary under this section for any year, the 

20 proportionate amount of interest on such loan which 

21 accrues for such year shall be repaid by the Sec22 retary. 

23 (c) REPAYMENT TO ELIGIBLE LENDERS.—Except as 

24 provided by the Secretary pursuant to section 5, the Sec25 retary shall pay to each eligible lender or holder for each 
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1 year an amount equal to one-third of the aggregate 

2 amount of loans which are subject to repayment pursuant 

3 to subsection (b)(1). 

4 (d) APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible individual de6 siring loan repayment under this section shall sub7 mit a complete and accurate application to the Sec8 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

9 such information as the Secretary may require. 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE POSITIONS.—An individual shall 

11 be treated as serving as a lawyer employed in a pub12 lic interest position under this section after com13 pleting a year of service as a practising attorney in 

14 a position in—

15 (A) local, State, or Federal government; 

16 (B) an organization that is exempt from 

17 taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 

18 Revenue Code of 1986; or 

19 (C) a judicial clerkship. 

20 (e) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—A loan 

21 amount for a consolidation loan made under section 428C 

22 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, or a Federal Direct 

23 Consolidation Loan made under part D of title IV of such 

24 Act, may be a qualified loan amount for the purpose of 

25 this section only to the extent that such loan amount was 
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1 used by a borrower who otherwise meets the requirements 

2 of this section to repay—

3 (1) a loan made under section 428 or 428H of 

4 such Act; or 

5 (2) a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, or a Fed6 eral Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, made under 

7 part D of title IV of such Act. 

8 (f) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No bor9 rower may, for the same service, receive a benefit under 

10 both this section and subtitle D of title I of the National 

11 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 

12 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION. 

14 The Secretary shall create or designate an admin15 istering body within the Department of Education to—

16 (1) establish and determine eligibility criteria 

17 under this Act; 

18 (2) alter the limits on the amount of loan re19 payment assistance participants may receive during 

20 their period of participation under section 3; 

21 (3) alter the limits on the amount of time a law 

22 school graduate may participate in the loan assist23 ance repayment program under section 3; 

24 (4) accept funding and gifts on behalf of the 

25 program; 
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1 (5) raise funds on behalf of the program; and 

2 (6) disburse funds or designate another entity 

3 to do so on behalf of the program. 

4 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

7 2003 and for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.

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