I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3448 

To forgive outstanding Federal and private student loans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2019 

Ms. OMAR (for herself, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 

GARCI ́A of Illinois, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and 

in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and 

Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To forgive outstanding Federal and private student loans. 

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 ‘‘Student Debt Cancella5 tion Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FORGIVENESS OF OUTSTANDING FEDERAL STU7 DENT LOANS. 

8 (a) FORGIVENESS REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 

9 other provision of law, not later than 180 days after the 


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1 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Edu2 cation shall forgive the outstanding balance of interest and 

3 principal due on all eligible Federal student loans. 

4 (b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE FEDERAL STUDENT

5 LOAN.—In this Act, the term ‘‘eligible Federal student 

6 loan’’ means any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under 

7 part B, part D, or part E of title IV of the Higher Edu8 cation Act of 1965 before the date of enactment of this 

9 Act, including— 

10 (1) loans made to a parent borrower on behalf 

11 of a dependent student under part B or part D of 

12 such Act; 

13 (2) consolidation loans made under such Act; 

14 and 

15 (3) any grant treated as a loan under such part 

16 D in accordance with section 258(e), section 

17 420M(c), or section 807(d) of such Act. 

18 (c) METHOD OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—To provide 

19 the loan forgiveness required under subsection (a), the 

20 Secretary of Education is authorized to carry out a pro21 gram— 

22 (1) through the holder of a loan, to assume the 

23 obligation to repay the outstanding balance of inter24 est and principal due on loans made, insured, or 

25 guaranteed under part B of title IV of the Higher 


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1 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.); 

2 and 

3 (2) to cancel the outstanding balance of interest 

4 and principal due on loans made under part D or 

5 part E of such title. 

6 (d) REPAYMENT REFUNDS.— 

7 (1) PRIOR REPAYMENT.—Nothing in this sec8 tion shall be construed to authorize any refunding of 

9 any eligible Federal student loan repayment made 

10 before the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 (2) PAYMENTS MADE AFTER ENACTMENT.— 

12 The Secretary shall refund to each borrower who re13 ceives forgiveness under this section the amount of 

14 any payments the borrower makes on an eligible 

15 Federal student loan during the period beginning on 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on 

17 the date on which the Secretary forgives the out18 standing balance of such eligible Federal student 

19 loan. 

20 (e) EXCLUSION FROM TAXABLE INCOME.—The 

21 amount of a borrower’s eligible Federal student loans for22 given under this section, and the amount of any repay23 ments to a borrower under subsection (d)(2), shall not be 

24 included in the gross income of the borrower for purposes 

25 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 


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1 SEC. 3. PURCHASE AND FORGIVENESS OF OUTSTANDING 

2 PRIVATE STUDENT LOANS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part D of title IV of the Higher 

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) is 

5 amended by inserting after section 459B the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 459C. TEMPORARY AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE AND 

7 FORGIVE ELIGIBLE PRIVATE STUDENT 

8 LOANS. 

9 ‘‘(a) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN PURCHASE AND

10 FORGIVENESS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

11 law, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

12 of the Student Debt Cancellation Act of 2019, the Sec13 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 

14 shall carry out a program under which the Secretary shall 

15 purchase, and then forgive, the outstanding balance of in16 terest and principal due on eligible private student loans. 

17 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE PRIVATE STUDENT LOAN.—In 

19 this section, the term ‘eligible private student loan’ 

20 means a private education loan, as defined in section 

21 140(a) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 

22 1650(a)), that was expressly for the cost of attend23 ance (as defined in section 472) at an institution of 

24 higher education participating in a loan program 

25 under part B, part D, or part E of title IV of the 

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


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1 seq.), as of the date that the loan was disbursed, 

2 and that was made before the date of enactment of 

3 the Student Debt Cancellation Act of 2019. 

4 ‘‘(2) PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL LENDER.—The 

5 term private educational lender has the meaning 

6 given the term in section 140(a) of the Truth in 

7 Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)). 

8 ‘‘(c) METHOD OF LOAN PURCHASE AND FORGIVE9 NESS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 

10 of the Treasury, shall carry out a program under which 

11 the Secretary, upon application by a borrower who has an 

12 eligible private student loan, shall purchase the eligible 

13 private student loans of the borrower, issue such borrower 

14 a loan under this section, and forgive such loan, in accord15 ance with the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall pay to the private edu17 cational lender of the eligible private student loan an 

18 amount equal to the sum of the unpaid principal, ac19 crued unpaid interest, and late charges of the eligi20 ble private student loan, as calculated on the date of 

21 the purchase of such loan, in order to discharge the 

22 borrower from any remaining obligation to the pri23 vate educational lender with respect to the eligible 

24 private student loan. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall issue to the borrower 

2 a loan, known as a Federal Direct Forgiveness 

3 Loan, in an amount equal to the sum of the amount 

4 paid to the private educational lender of the eligible 

5 private student loan of the borrower that was pur6 chased by the Secretary in accordance with para7 graph (1). 

8 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall, immediately upon 

9 issuance of a Federal Direct Forgiveness Loan, can10 cel the outstanding balance of interest and principal 

11 due on such loan. 

12 ‘‘(d) REPAYMENT REFUNDS PROHIBITED.—Nothing 

13 in this section shall be construed to authorize any refund14 ing of any repayment of a loan. 

15 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSION FROM TAXABLE INCOME.—The 

16 amount of a borrower’s Federal Direct Forgiveness Loans 

17 forgiven under this section shall not be included in the 

18 gross income of the borrower for purposes of the Internal 

19 Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

20 (b) NOTICE TO BORROWERS.—Section 128(e) of the 

21 Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1638(e)) is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(12) NOTICE REQUIRED ALONG WITH BILLING

24 STATEMENTS.—Along with each billing statement 

25 sent to the borrower during the six-month period beVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3448.IH H3448

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1 ginning on the day after the date of enactment of 

2 the Student Debt Cancellation Act of 2019, the pri3 vate educational lender shall include a statement in4 forming the borrower that— 

5 ‘‘(A) the borrower may be eligible for loan 

6 forgiveness of eligible private student loans 

7 under section 459C of the Higher Education 

8 Act of 1965; and 

9 ‘‘(B) to be eligible for such loan forgive10 ness, the borrower must apply to the Secretary 

11 of Education no later than the date that is 180 

12 days after the date of enactment of the Student 

13 Debt Cancellation Act of 2019.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC. 

15 Not later than 15 days after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, the Secretary of Education, in consultation 

17 with institutions of higher education and lenders of Fed18 eral student loans and private education loans, shall take 

19 such actions as may be necessary to ensure that borrowers 

20 who have outstanding eligible Federal student loans or 

21 outstanding eligible private student loans (as defined in 

22 section 459C of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 

23 added by this Act) are aware of the loan forgiveness pro24 grams authorized by this Act. Such information shall— 


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1 (1) be presented in a form that is widely avail2 able to the public, especially to borrowers with out3 standing Federal and private student loans; 

4 (2) be easily understandable; and 

5 (3) clearly notify borrowers of eligible private 

6 student loans— 

7 (A) that borrowers must apply for loan 

8 forgiveness under this Act, and must do so no 

9 later than the date that is 180 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act; and 

11 (B) of the application process and require12 ments to apply for forgiveness of eligible private 

13 student loans in accordance with this Act. 

Æ 


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