II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1619 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to extend the interest rate 

limitation on debt entered into during military service to debt incurred 

during military service to consolidate or refinance student loans incurred 

before military service. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2017 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to extend 

the interest rate limitation on debt entered into during 

military service to debt incurred during military service 

to consolidate or refinance student loans incurred before 

military service. 

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

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•S 1619 IS

1 SECTION 1. INTEREST RATE LIMITATION ON DEBT EN2 TERED INTO DURING MILITARY SERVICE TO 

3 CONSOLIDATE OR REFINANCE STUDENT 

4 LOANS INCURRED BEFORE MILITARY SERV5 ICE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 207 of 

7 the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 527) 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘ON DEBT

10 INCURRED BEFORE SERVICE’’ after ‘‘LIMITATION TO

11 6 PERCENT’’; 

12 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 

13 paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; 

14 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol15 lowing new paragraph (2): 

16 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION TO 6 PERCENT ON DEBT IN17 CURRED DURING SERVICE TO CONSOLIDATE OR RE18 FINANCE STUDENT LOANS INCURRED BEFORE SERV19 ICE.—An obligation or liability bearing interest at a 

20 rate in excess of 6 percent per year that is incurred 

21 by a servicemember, or the servicemember and the 

22 servicemember’s spouse jointly, during military serv23 ice to consolidate or refinance one or more student 

24 loans incurred by the servicemember before such 

25 military service shall not bear an interest at a rate 

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•S 1619 IS

1 in excess of 6 percent during the period of military 

2 service.’’; 

3 (4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by para4 graph (2) of this subsection, by inserting ‘‘or (2)’’ 

5 after ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; and 

6 (5) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, by 

7 striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

8 (3)’’. 

9 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF LIMITATION.—Subsection 

10 (b) of such section is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the interest 

12 rate limitation in subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

13 interest rate limitation in paragraph (1) or (2) of 

14 subsection (a)’’; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

16 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

17 ‘‘EFFECTIVE AS OF DATE OF ORDER TO ACTIVE

18 DUTY’’ and inserting ‘‘EFFECTIVE DATE’’; and 

19 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

20 end the following: ‘‘in the case of an obligation 

21 or liability covered by subsection (a)(1), or as of 

22 the date the servicemember (or servicemember 

23 and spouse jointly) incurs the obligation or li24 ability concerned under subsection (a)(2)’’. 

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1 (c) STUDENT LOAN DEFINED.—Subsection (d) of 

2 such section is amended by adding at the end the following 

3 new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(3) STUDENT LOAN.—The term ‘student loan’ 

5 means the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) A Federal student loan made, in7 sured, or guaranteed under title IV of the 

8 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 

9 et seq.). 

10 ‘‘(B) A private student loan as that term 

11 is defined section 140(a) of the Truth in Lend12 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)).’’. 

Æ 

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