I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2679 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve service-connected 
disability determinations for purposes of loan discharge. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2017 
Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. BARLETTA, Ms. BONAMICI, 
Mr. BYRNE, Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TITUS, and Ms. SINEMA) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve 
service-connected disability determinations for purposes 
of loan discharge. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Match Veterans to Stu-
dent Loan Protections Act’’. 
SEC. 2. IMPROVED DISABILITY DETERMINATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 437(a) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘A borrower’’ and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A borrower’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following 
‘‘(B) MATCHING PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 
Education and the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall carry out a computer match-
ing program under which the Secretary of 
Education identifies, on at least a quar-
terly basis, borrowers— 
‘‘(I) who have been assigned a 
disability rating of 100 percent (or a 
combination of ratings equaling 100 
percent or more) by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs for a service-con-
nected disability (as defined in section 
101 of title 38, United States Code); 
or 
‘‘(II) who have been determined 
by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
to be unemployable due to a service- 
connected condition, as described in 
subparagraph (A). 
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‘‘(ii) 
BORROWER
NOTIFICATION.— 
With respect to each borrower who is iden-
tified by the Secretary of Education under 
clause (i), the Secretary shall, as soon as 
practicable after such identification— 
‘‘(I) notify the borrower of the 
borrower’s eligibility for loan dis-
charge under this subsection; and 
‘‘(II) provide the borrower with 
simple instructions on how to apply 
for such loan discharge, including an 
explanation that the borrower shall 
not be required to provide any docu-
mentation of the borrower’s disability 
rating to receive such discharge.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT TO CON-
GRESS.—The Secretary shall annually collect and 
submit to the Committees on Education and the 
Workforce and Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Committees on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions and Veterans’ Af-
fairs of the Senate, data about borrowers applying 
for and receiving loan discharges under this sub-
section, 
which 
shall 
include 
the 
following, 
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disaggregated by borrowers applying for or receiving 
such discharges under subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
paragraph (2): 
‘‘(A) The number of applications received 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(B) The number of such applications that 
were approved. 
‘‘(C) The number of loan discharges that 
were completed under this subsection. 
‘‘(4) NOTIFICATION TO BORROWERS.—The Sec-
retary shall notify each borrower whose liability on 
a loan has been discharged under this subsection 
that such loan has been discharged.’’. 
(b) REPORTS.— 
(1) PLAN.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Education shall submit to the appropriate commit-
tees of Congress a report that includes a plan to 
carry out the activities described under section 
437(a)(2)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1087(a)(2)), as added by this section. 
(2) FOLLOW-UP REPORT.—If the Secretary of 
Education has not carried out the activities de-
scribed under section 437(a)(2)(B) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965, as added by this section, by 
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the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit 
to the appropriate committees of Congress, by such 
date, a report that includes an explanation of why 
those activities have not been implemented. 
Æ 
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