II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 765 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 12, 2005 

Mr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

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 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 mathematics lags behind 

9 their international peers, and not enough students 

10 are pursuing 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 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq. and 1087a et seq.). 

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 1 or more loans described in 

13 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 

20 school or secondary school, or is a mathematics, 

21 science, 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 of the Higher 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–8) or 

8 a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan; 

9 or 

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

11 agreement under paragraph (2)(E). 

12 (4) INITIAL SELECTION.—In selecting partici13 pants for the program under this Act, the Sec14 retary— 

15 (A) shall choose among eligible applicants 

16 on the basis of— 

17 (i) the national security, homeland se18 curity, and economic security needs of the 

19 United States, as determined by the Sec20 retary, in consultation with other Federal 

21 agencies, including the Departments of 

22 Labor, Defense, Homeland Security, Com23 merce, and Energy, the Central Intel24 ligence Agency, and the National Science 

25 Foundation; and 
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1 (ii) the academic record or job per2 formance of the applicant; and 

3 (B) may choose among eligible applicants 

4 on the basis of— 

5 (i) the likelihood of the applicant to 

6 complete the 5-year service obligation; 

7 (ii) the likelihood of the applicant to 

8 remain in science, mathematics, or engi9 neering after the completion of the service 

10 requirement; or 

11 (iii) other relevant criteria determined 

12 by the Secretary. 

13 (5) AVAILABILITY SUBJECT TO APPROPRIA14 TIONS.—Loan interest payments under this Act 

15 shall be subject to the availability of appropriations. 

16 If the amount appropriated for any fiscal year is not 

17 sufficient to provide interest payments on behalf of 

18 all qualified applicants, the Secretary shall give pri19 ority to those individuals on whose behalf interest 

20 payments were made during the preceding fiscal 

21 year. 

22 (6) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is author23 ized to prescribe such regulations as may be nec24 essary to carry out the provisions of this section. 
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1 (b) DURATION AND AMOUNT OF INTEREST PAY2 MENTS.—The period during which the Secretary shall pay 

3 interest on behalf of a student borrower who is selected 

4 under subsection (a) is the period that begins on the effec5 tive date of the agreement under subsection (a)(2)(E), 

6 continues after successful completion of the service obliga7 tion, and ends on the earlier of— 

8 (1) the completion of the repayment period of 

9 the loan; 

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

11 $10,000 on behalf of the borrower; 

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

13 obligation under such agreement prior to the end of 

14 the 5-year period, as soon as the borrower is deter15 mined to have ceased to fulfill such obligation in ac16 cordance with regulations of the Secretary; or 

17 (4) 6 months after the end of any calendar year 

18 in which the borrower’s gross income equals or ex19 ceeds 4 times the national per capita disposable per20 sonal income (current dollars) for such calendar 

21 year, as determined on the basis of the National In22 come and Product Accounts Tables of the Bureau of 

23 Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, 

24 as determined in accordance with regulations pre25 scribed by the Secretary. 
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1 (c) REPAYMENT TO ELIGIBLE LENDERS.—Subject to 

2 the regulations prescribed by the Secretary pursuant to 

3 subsection (a)(6), the Secretary shall pay to each eligible 

4 lender or holder for each payment period the amount of 

5 the interest that accrues on a loan of a student borrower 

6 who is selected under subsection (a). 

7 (d) APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible individual de9 siring loan interest payment under this section shall 

10 submit a complete and accurate application to the 

11 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con12 taining such information as the Secretary may re13 quire. 

14 (2) FAILURE TO COMPLETE SERVICE AGREE15 MENT.—Such application shall contain an agreement 

16 by the individual that, if the individual fails to com17 plete the 5 consecutive years of service required by 

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

19 the Secretary the amount of any interest paid by the 

20 Secretary on behalf of the individual. 

21 (e) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—A con22 solidation loan made under section 428C of the Higher 

23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–3), or a Federal 

24 Direct Consolidation Loan made under part D of title IV 

25 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.), may be a loan for 
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1 which interest is paid pursuant to this section only to the 

2 extent that such loan amount was used by a borrower who 

3 otherwise meets the requirements of this section to 

4 repay— 

5 (1) a loan made under section 428 or 428H of 

6 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1078 and 1078–8); or 

7 (2) a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, or a Fed8 eral Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, made under 

9 part D of title IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087a et 

10 seq.). 

11 (f) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No bor12 rower may, for the same service, receive a benefit under 

13 both this section and— 

14 (1) any loan forgiveness program under title IV 

15 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

16 1070 et seq.); or 

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

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

19 et seq.). 

20 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

21 As used in this Act— 

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

23 of Education; and 

24 (2) the term ‘‘mathematics, science, or engi25 neering professional’’ means a person who— 
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1 (A) holds a baccalaureate, masters, or doc2 toral degree (or a combination thereof) in 

3 science, mathematics, or engineering; and 

4 (B) works in a field the Secretary deter5 mines is closely related to that degree, which 

6 shall include working as a professor at a 2- or 

7 4-year institution of higher education. 

8 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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

11 2006 and for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.

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