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109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1547

To preserve mathematics- and science-based industries in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2005

Mr. WOLF (for himself, Mr. EHLERS, and Mr. BOEHLERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL

To preserve mathematics- and science-based industries in 

the United States.

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 ‘‘Math and Science In5 centive Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States can have a secure and 

9 prosperous future only by having a robust and in10 ventive scientific and technical enterprise. 
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1 (2) Such an enterprise will require the United 

2 States to produce more scientists and engineers. 

3 (3) The United States education system must 

4 do more to encourage students at every level to 

5 study science and mathematics and to pursue ca6 reers related to those fields. 

7 (4) The current performance of United States 

8 students in science and math lags behind their inter9 national peers, and not enough students are pur10 suing science and mathematics. 

11 (5) The United States is still reaping the bene12 fits of past investments in research and development 

13 and education, but we are drawing down that cap14 ital. 

15 (6) The United States needs to recommit itself 

16 to leadership in science, mathematics and engineer17 ing, especially as advances are being made in such 

18 areas as nanotechnology. 

19 (7) A program of loan forgiveness designed to 

20 attract students to careers in science, mathematics, 

21 engineering and technology, including teaching ca22 reers, can help the United States maintain its tech23 nological leadership. 

24 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 

25 (a) PROGRAM.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

2 out a program of assuming the obligation to pay, 

3 pursuant to the provisions of this Act, the interest 

4 on a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part 

5 B or D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

6 1965. 

7 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary may assume 

8 interest payments under paragraph (1) only for a 

9 borrower who—

10 (A) has submitted an application in com11 pliance with subsection (d); 

12 (B) obtained one or more loans described 

13 in paragraph (1) as an undergraduate student; 

14 (C) is a new borrower (within the meaning 

15 of section 103(7) of the Higher Education Act 

16 of 1965 (20 U.S.C 1003(7)) on or after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act; 

18 (D) is a teacher of science, technology, en19 gineering or mathematics at an elementary or 

20 secondary school, or is a mathematics, science 

21 or engineering professional; and 

22 (E) enters into an agreement with the Sec23 retary to complete 5 consecutive years of service 

24 in a position described in subparagraph (D), 

25 starting on the date of the agreement. 
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1 (3) PRIOR INTEREST LIMITATIONS.—The Sec2 retary shall not make any payments for interest 

3 that—

4 (A) accrues prior to the beginning of the 

5 repayment period on a loan in the case of a 

6 loan made under section 428H or a Federal Di7 rect Unsubsidized Stafford Loan; or 

8 (B) has accrued prior to the signing of an 

9 agreement under paragraph (2)(E). 

10 (4) INITIAL SELECTION.—In selecting partici11 pants for the program under this Act, the Sec12 retary—

13 (A) shall choose among eligible applicants 

14 on the basis of—

15 (i) the national security, homeland se16 curity and economic security needs of the 

17 United States, as determined by the Sec18 retary, in consultation with other Federal 

19 agencies, including the Departments of 

20 Labor, Defense, Homeland Security, Com21 merce, and Energy, the Central Intel22 ligence Agency and the National Science 

23 Foundation; and 

24 (ii) the academic record or job per25 formance of the applicant; and 
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1 (B) may choose among eligible applicants 

2 on the basis of—

3 (i) the likelihood of the applicant to 

4 complete the five-year service obligation; 

5 (ii) the likelihood of the applicant to 

6 remain in science, mathematics or engi7 neering after the completion of the service 

8 requirement; or 

9 (iii) other relevant criteria determined 

10 by the Secretary. 

11 (5) AVAILABILITY SUBJECT TO APPROPRIA12 TIONS.—Loan interest payments under this Act 

13 shall be subject to the availability of appropriations. 

14 If the amount appropriated for any fiscal year is not 

15 sufficient to provide interest payments on behalf of 

16 all qualified applicants, the Secretary shall give pri17 ority to those individuals on whose behalf interest 

18 payments were made during the preceding fiscal 

19 year. 

20 (6) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is author21 ized to prescribe such regulations as may be nec22 essary to carry out the provisions of this section. 

23 (b) DURATION AND AMOUNT OF INTEREST PAY24 MENTS.—The period during which the Secretary shall pay 

25 interest on behalf of a student borrower who is selected 
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1 under subsection (a) is the period that begins on the effec2 tive date of the agreement under subsection (a)(2)(E), 

3 continues after successful completion of the service obliga4 tion, and ends on the earlier of—

5 (1) the completion of the repayment period of 

6 the loan; 

7 (2) payment by the Secretary of a total of 

8 $10,000 on behalf of the borrower; 

9 (3) if the borrower ceases to fulfill the service 

10 obligation under such agreement prior to the end of 

11 the 5-year period, as soon as the borrower is deter12 mined to have ceased to fulfill such obligation in ac13 cordance with regulations of the Secretary; or 

14 (4) 6 months after the end of any calendar year 

15 in which the borrower’s gross income equals or ex16 ceeds 4 times the national per capita disposable per17 sonal income (current dollars) for such calendar 

18 year, as determined on the basis of the National In19 come and Product Accounts Tables of the Bureau of 

20 Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, 

21 as determined in accordance with regulations pre22 scribed by the Secretary. 

23 (c) REPAYMENT TO ELIGIBLE LENDERS.—Subject to 

24 the regulations prescribed by the Secretary by regulation 

25 under subsection (a)(6), the Secretary shall pay to each 
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1 eligible lender or holder for each payment period the 

2 amount of the interest that accrues on a loan of a student 

3 borrower who is selected under subsection (a). 

4 (d) APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible individual de6 siring loan interest payment under this section shall 

7 submit a complete and accurate application to the 

8 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con9 taining such information as the Secretary may re10 quire. 

11 (2) FAILURE TO COMPLETE SERVICE AGREE12 MENT.—Such application shall contain an agreement 

13 by the individual that, if the individual fails to com14 plete the 5 consecutive years of service required by 

15 subsection (a)(2)(E), the individual agrees to repay 

16 the Secretary the amount of any interest paid by the 

17 Secretary on behalf of the individual. 

18 (e) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—A con19 solidation loan made under section 428C of the Higher 

20 Education Act of 1965, or a Federal Direct Consolidation 

21 Loan made under part D of title IV of such Act, may 

22 be a qualified loan for the purpose of this section only 

23 to the extent that such loan amount was used by a bor24 rower who otherwise meets the requirements of this sec25 tion to repay—
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1 (1) a loan made under section 428 or 428H of 

2 such Act; or 

3 (2) a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, or a Fed4 eral Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, made under 

5 part D of title IV of such Act. 

6 (f) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No bor7 rower may, for the same service, receive a benefit under 

8 both this section and— 

9 (1) any loan forgiveness program under title IV 

10 of the Higher Education Act of 1965; or 

11 (2) subtitle D of title I of the National and 

12 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 

13 et seq.). 

14 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

15 As used in this Act— 

16 (1) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

17 of Education; and 

18 (2) the term ‘‘mathematics, science, or engi19 neering professional’’ means a person who— 

20 (A) holds a baccalaureate, masters, or doc21 toral degree (or a combination thereof) in 

22 science, mathematics or engineering; and 

23 (B) works in a field the Secretary deter24 mines is closely related to that degree, which 
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1 shall include working as a professor at a two2 or four-year institution of higher education. 

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

6 2006 and for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.

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