I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2888 

To explicitly make unauthorized access to Department of Education information technology systems and the misuse of identification devices issued 

by the Department of Education a criminal act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2019 

Ms. STEVENS (for herself and Mr. SMUCKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To explicitly make unauthorized access to Department of 

Education information technology systems and the misuse of identification devices issued by the Department 

of Education a criminal act. 

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 ‘‘Stop Student Debt 

5 Relief Scams Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 490 of the Higher Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1097) is amended by add4 ing at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(e) ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IN6 FORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS FOR FRAUD, COM7 MERCIAL ADVANTAGE, OR PRIVATE FINANCIAL GAIN.— 

8 Any person who knowingly uses an access device, as de9 fined in section 1029(e)(1) of title 18, United States Code, 

10 issued to another person or obtained by fraud or false 

11 statement to access Department information technology 

12 systems for purposes of obtaining commercial advantage 

13 or private financial gain, or in furtherance of any criminal 

14 or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of 

15 the United States or of any State, shall be fined not more 

16 than $20,000, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or 

17 both.’’. 

18 (b) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue guidance 

19 regarding the use of access devices in a manner that com20 plies with this Act, and the amendments made by this Act. 

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF PENALTIES.—Notwith22 standing section 6, the penalties described in section 

23 490(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

24 1097), as added by subsection (a), shall take effect the 

25 day after the date on which the Secretary issues guidance 


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1 regarding the use of access devices, as described in sub2 section (b). 

3 SEC. 3. LOAN COUNSELING. 

4 Section 485(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

5 (20 U.S.C. 1092(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) in clause (viii), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

7 semicolon; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(x) an explanation that— 

10 ‘‘(I) the borrower may be con11 tacted during the repayment period by 

12 third-party student debt relief compa13 nies; 

14 ‘‘(II) the borrower should use 

15 caution when dealing with those com16 panies; and 

17 ‘‘(III) the services that those 

18 companies typically provide are al19 ready offered to borrowers free of 

20 charge through the Department or the 

21 borrower’s servicer; and’’. 

22 SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF IMPROPER ACCESS. 

23 Section 485B of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

24 (20 U.S.C. 1092b) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) through (h) 

2 as subsections (f) through (i), respectively; 

3 (2) in subsection (d)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

5 after the semicolon; 

6 (B) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking the 

7 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(7) preventing access to the data system and 

10 any other system used to administer a program 

11 under this title by any person or entity for the pur12 pose of assisting a student in managing loan repay13 ment or applying for any repayment plan, consolida14 tion loan, or other benefit authorized by this title, 

15 unless such access meets the requirements described 

16 in subsection (e).’’; 

17 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS FOR THIRD-PARTY DATA SYS20 TEM ACCESS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As provided in paragraph 

22 (7) of subsection (d), an authorized person or entity 

23 described in paragraph (2) may access the data sys24 tem and any other system used to administer a pro25 gram under this title if that access— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is in compliance with terms of service, 

2 information security standards, and a code of 

3 conduct which shall be established by the Sec4 retary and published in the Federal Register; 

5 ‘‘(B) is obtained using an access device (as 

6 defined in section 1029(e)(1) of title 18, United 

7 States Code) issued by the Secretary to the au8 thorized person or entity; and 

9 ‘‘(C) is obtained without using any access 

10 device (as defined in section 1029(e)(1) of title 

11 18, United States Code) issued by the Secretary 

12 to a student, borrower, or parent. 

13 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED PERSON OR ENTITY.—An 

14 authorized person or entity described in this para15 graph means— 

16 ‘‘(A) a guaranty agency, eligible lender, or 

17 eligible institution, or a third-party organization 

18 acting on behalf of a guaranty agency, eligible 

19 lender, or eligible institution, that is in compli20 ance with applicable Federal law (including reg21 ulations and guidance); or 

22 ‘‘(B) a licensed attorney representing a 

23 student, borrower, or parent, or another indi24 vidual who works for a Federal, State, local, or 

25 Tribal government or agency, or for a nonprofit 


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1 organization, providing financial or student loan 

2 repayment counseling to a student, borrower, or 

3 parent, if— 

4 ‘‘(i) that attorney or other individual 

5 has never engaged in unfair, deceptive, or 

6 abusive practices, as determined by the 

7 Secretary; 

8 ‘‘(ii) that attorney or other individual 

9 does not work for an entity that has en10 gaged in unfair, deceptive, or abusive prac11 tices (including an entity that is owned or 

12 operated by a person or entity that en13 gaged in such practices), as determined by 

14 the Secretary; 

15 ‘‘(iii) system access is provided only 

16 through a separate point of entry; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) the attorney or other individual 

18 has consent from the relevant student, bor19 rower, or parent to access the system.’’; 

20 and 

21 (4) in subsection (f)(1), as redesignated by 

22 paragraph (1)— 

23 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘stu24 dent and parent’’ and inserting ‘‘student, bor25 rower, and parent’’; 


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1 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 

2 and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respec3 tively; 

4 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(C) the reduction in improper data sys7 tem access as described in subsection (d)(7);’’; 

8 and 

9 (D) by striking subparagraph (E), as re10 designated by subparagraph (B), and inserting 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(E) any protocols, codes of conduct, 

13 terms of service, or information security stand14 ards developed under paragraphs (6) or (7) of 

15 subsection (d) during the preceding fiscal 

16 year.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. AGENCY PREVENTION AND DETECTION. 

18 Section 141(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 

19 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the 

20 end the following: 

21 ‘‘(C) Taking action to prevent and address 

22 the improper use of access devices, as described 

23 in section 485B(d)(7), including by— 

24 ‘‘(i) detecting common patterns of im25 proper use of any system that processes 


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1 payments on Federal Direct Loans or 

2 other Department information technology 

3 systems; 

4 ‘‘(ii) maintaining a reporting system 

5 for contractors involved in the processing 

6 of payments on Federal Direct Loans in 

7 order to allow those contractors to alert 

8 the Secretary of potentially improper use 

9 of Department information technology sys10 tems; 

11 ‘‘(iii) proactively contacting Federal 

12 student loan borrowers whose Federal stu13 dent loan accounts demonstrate a likeli14 hood of improper use in order to warn 

15 those borrowers of suspicious activity or 

16 potential fraud regarding their Federal 

17 student loan accounts; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) providing clear and simple dis19 closures in communications with borrowers 

20 who are applying for or requesting assist21 ance with Federal Direct Loan programs 

22 (including assistance or applications re23 garding income-driven repayment, forbear24 ance, deferment, consolidation, rehabilita25 tion, cancellation, and forgiveness) to enVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2888.IH H2888

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1 sure that borrowers are aware that the De2 partment will never require borrowers to 

3 pay for such assistance or applications.’’. 

4 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

5 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

6 shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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