II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4645 

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, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2024 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Mr. BENNET) 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, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Servicemember Stu5 dent Loan Affordability Act of 2024’’. 


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•S 4645 IS

1 SEC. 2. INTEREST RATE LIMITATION ON DEBT ENTERED 

2 INTO DURING MILITARY SERVICE TO CON3 SOLIDATE OR REFINANCE STUDENT LOANS 

4 INCURRED BEFORE MILITARY SERVICE. 

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

6 the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3937) is 

7 amended— 

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

9 INCURRED BEFORE SERVICE’’ after ‘‘LIMITATION TO

10 6 PERCENT’’; 

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

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

13 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol14 lowing new paragraph (2): 

15 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION TO 6 PERCENT ON DEBT IN16 CURRED DURING SERVICE TO CONSOLIDATE OR RE17 FINANCE STUDENT LOANS INCURRED BEFORE SERV18 ICE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), an obligation or liability bearing in21 terest at a rate in excess of 6 percent per year 

22 that is incurred by a servicemember, or the 

23 servicemember and the servicemember’s spouse 

24 jointly, during military service to consolidate or 

25 refinance one or more student loans incurred by 

26 the servicemember before such military service 


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•S 4645 IS

1 shall not bear an interest at a rate in excess of 

2 6 percent during the period of military service. 

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) 

4 shall apply only to the consolidation or refi5 nancing of student loans described in such sub6 paragraph and shall not apply to the consolida7 tion or refinancing of any other obligation or li8 ability.’’; 

9 (4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by para10 graph (2) of this subsection, by inserting ‘‘or (2)’’ 

11 after ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; and 

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

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

14 (3)’’. 

15 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF LIMITATION.—Subsection 

16 (b) of such section is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘the inter18 est rate limitation in subsection (a)’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘an interest rate limitation in paragraph (1) or (2) 

20 of subsection (a)’’; and 

21 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

23 ‘‘EFFECTIVE AS OF DATE OF ORDER TO ACTIVE

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


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1 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

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

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

4 the date the servicemember (or servicemember 

5 and spouse jointly) incurs the obligation or li6 ability concerned under subsection (a)(2)’’. 

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

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

9 new paragraph: 

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

11 means the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) A Federal student loan made, in13 sured, or guaranteed under title IV of the 

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

15 et seq.). 

16 ‘‘(B) A private education loan as that term 

17 is defined in section 140(a) of the Truth in 

18 Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)).’’. 

Æ 


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