II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1557 

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 

JUNE 11, 2015 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BROWN, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. 

MURRAY, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) 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 2015’’. 


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•S 1557 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. App. 527) 

7 is 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.—An obligation or liability bearing interest at a 

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

20 by a servicemember, or the servicemember and the 

21 servicemember’s spouse jointly, during military serv22 ice to consolidate or refinance one or more student 

23 loans incurred by the servicemember before such 

24 military service shall not bear an interest at a rate 

25 in excess of 6 percent during the period of military 

26 service.’’; 


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•S 1557 IS

1 (4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by para2 graph (2) of this subsection, by inserting ‘‘or (2)’’ 

3 after ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; and 

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

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

6 (3)’’. 

7 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF LIMITATION.—Subsection 

8 (b) of such section is amended— 

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

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

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

12 subsection (a)’’; and 

13 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

15 ‘‘AS OF DATE OF ORDER TO ACTIVE DUTY’’; and 

16 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

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

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

19 the date the servicemember (or servicemember 

20 and spouse jointly) incurs the obligation or li21 ability concerned under subsection (a)(2)’’. 

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

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

24 new paragraph: 


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•S 1557 IS

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

2 means the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) A Federal student loan made, in4 sured, or guaranteed under title IV of the 

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

6 et seq.). 

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

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

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

Æ 


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