I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3265 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide an interest-free 

deferment of student loan repayment for Federal student loan borrowers 

during active military service. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 13, 2005 

Mr. RYAN of Ohio (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

an interest-free deferment of student loan repayment 

for Federal student loan borrowers during active military 

service. 

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 ‘‘Higher Education 

5 Loan Program for Our Troops Act’’ or the ‘‘HELP Our 

6 Troops Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DEFERMENT OF STUDENT LOANS DURING ACTIVE 

2 MILITARY SERVICE. 

3 (a) FEDERAL FAMILY EDUCATION LOANS.—Section 

4 428(b)(1)(M) (20 U.S.C. 1078(b)(1)(M)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (ii); 

6 (2) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); 

7 and 

8 (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following 

9 new clause: 

10 ‘‘(iii) not in excess of 3 years during 

11 which the borrower— 

12 ‘‘(I) is serving on active duty 

13 during a war or other military oper14 ation or national emergency; or 

15 ‘‘(II) is performing qualifying 

16 National Guard duty during a war or 

17 other military operation or national 

18 emergency; or’’. 

19 (b) DIRECT LOANS.—Section 455(f)(2) (20 U.S.C. 

20 1087e(f)(2)) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub22 paragraph (D); and 

23 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol24 lowing new subparagraph: 

25 ‘‘(C) not in excess of 3 years during which 

26 the borrower— 
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1 ‘‘(i) is serving on active duty during a 

2 war or other military operation or national 

3 emergency; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) is performing qualifying National 

5 Guard duty during a war or other military 

6 operation or national emergency; or’’. 

7 (c) PERKINS LOANS.—Section 464(c)(2)(A) (20 

8 U.S.C. 1087dd(c)(2)(A)) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as 

10 clauses (iv) and (v), respectively; and 

11 (2) by inserting after clause (ii) the following 

12 new clause: 

13 ‘‘(iii) not in excess of 3 years during 

14 which the borrower— 

15 ‘‘(I) is serving on active duty 

16 during a war or other military oper17 ation or national emergency; or 

18 ‘‘(II) is performing qualifying 

19 National Guard duty during a war or 

20 other military operation or national 

21 emergency;’’. 

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 435 (20 U.S.C. 1085) is 

23 amended by inserting after subsection (m) the following 

24 new subsection: 
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1 ‘‘(n) DEFINITIONS FOR MILITARY DEFERMENTS.— 

2 For purposes of this part and parts D and E: 

3 ‘‘(1) ACTIVE DUTY.—The term ‘active duty’ has 

4 the meaning given such term in section 101(d)(1) of 

5 title 10, United States Code, except that such term 

6 does not include active duty for training or attend7 ance at a service school. 

8 ‘‘(2) MILITARY OPERATION.—The term ‘mili9 tary operation’ means a contingency operation as 

10 such term is defined in section 101(a)(13) of title 

11 10, United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—The term ‘na13 tional emergency’ means a national emergency de14 clared by the President of the United States. 

15 ‘‘(4) SERVING ON ACTIVE DUTY.—The term 

16 ‘serving on active duty during a war or other mili17 tary operation or national emergency’ means service 

18 by an individual who is— 

19 ‘‘(A) a Reserve of an Armed Force ordered 

20 to active duty under section 12301(a), 

21 12301(g), 12302, 12304, or 12306 of title 10, 

22 United States Code, or any retired member of 

23 an Armed Force ordered to active duty under 

24 section 688 of such title, for service in connec25 tion with a war or other military operation or 
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1 national emergency, regardless of the location 

2 at which such active duty service is performed; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) any other member of an Armed Force 

5 on active duty in connection with such emer6 gency or subsequent actions or conditions who 

7 has been assigned to a duty station at a loca8 tion other than the location at which such mem9 ber is normally assigned. 

10 ‘‘(5) QUALIFYING NATIONAL GUARD DUTY.— 

11 The term ‘qualifying National Guard duty during a 

12 war or other military operation or national emer13 gency’ means service as a member of the National 

14 Guard on full-time National Guard duty (as defined 

15 in section 101(d)(5) of title 10, United States Code) 

16 under a call to active service authorized by the 

17 President or the Secretary of Defense for a period 

18 of more than 30 consecutive days under section 

19 502(f) of title 32, United States Code, in connection 

20 with a war, another military operation, or a national 

21 emergency declared by the President and supported 

22 by Federal funds.’’. 

23 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall apply with respect to loans for which the 

25 first disbursement is made on or after July 1, 1993, to 
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1 an individual who is a new borrower (within the meaning 

2 of section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 1003)) on or after such date. 

Æ