I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3265 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide an interest-free 
deferment of student loan repayment for Federal student loan borrowers 
during active military service. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 13, 2005 
Mr. RYAN of Ohio (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 
an interest-free deferment of student loan repayment 
for Federal student loan borrowers during active military 
service. 
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 ‘‘Higher Education 
Loan Program for Our Troops Act’’ or the ‘‘HELP Our 
Troops Act’’.
SEC. 2. DEFERMENT OF STUDENT LOANS DURING ACTIVE 
MILITARY SERVICE. 
(a) FEDERAL FAMILY EDUCATION LOANS.—Section 
428(b)(1)(M) (20 U.S.C. 1078(b)(1)(M)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (ii); 
(2) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); 
and 
(3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following 
new clause: 
‘‘(iii) not in excess of 3 years during 
which the borrower— 
‘‘(I) is serving on active duty 
during a war or other military oper-
ation or national emergency; or 
‘‘(II) is performing qualifying 
National Guard duty during a war or 
other military operation or national 
emergency; or’’. 
(b) DIRECT LOANS.—Section 455(f)(2) (20 U.S.C. 
1087e(f)(2)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub-
paragraph (D); and 
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) not in excess of 3 years during which 
the borrower—
‘‘(i) is serving on active duty during a 
war or other military operation or national 
emergency; or 
‘‘(ii) is performing qualifying National 
Guard duty during a war or other military 
operation or national emergency; or’’. 
(c) PERKINS
LOANS.—Section 464(c)(2)(A) (20 
U.S.C. 1087dd(c)(2)(A)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as 
clauses (iv) and (v), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after clause (ii) the following 
new clause: 
‘‘(iii) not in excess of 3 years during 
which the borrower— 
‘‘(I) is serving on active duty 
during a war or other military oper-
ation or national emergency; or 
‘‘(II) is performing qualifying 
National Guard duty during a war or 
other military operation or national 
emergency;’’. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 435 (20 U.S.C. 1085) is 
amended by inserting after subsection (m) the following 
new subsection:
‘‘(n) DEFINITIONS FOR MILITARY DEFERMENTS.— 
For purposes of this part and parts D and E: 
‘‘(1) ACTIVE DUTY.—The term ‘active duty’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 101(d)(1) of 
title 10, United States Code, except that such term 
does not include active duty for training or attend-
ance at a service school. 
‘‘(2) MILITARY
OPERATION.—The term ‘mili-
tary operation’ means a contingency operation as 
such term is defined in section 101(a)(13) of title 
10, United States Code. 
‘‘(3) NATIONAL
EMERGENCY.—The term ‘na-
tional emergency’ means a national emergency de-
clared by the President of the United States. 
‘‘(4) SERVING
ON
ACTIVE
DUTY.—The term 
‘serving on active duty during a war or other mili-
tary operation or national emergency’ means service 
by an individual who is— 
‘‘(A) a Reserve of an Armed Force ordered 
to 
active 
duty 
under 
section 
12301(a), 
12301(g), 12302, 12304, or 12306 of title 10, 
United States Code, or any retired member of 
an Armed Force ordered to active duty under 
section 688 of such title, for service in connec-
tion with a war or other military operation or
national emergency, regardless of the location 
at which such active duty service is performed; 
and 
‘‘(B) any other member of an Armed Force 
on active duty in connection with such emer-
gency or subsequent actions or conditions who 
has been assigned to a duty station at a loca-
tion other than the location at which such mem-
ber is normally assigned. 
‘‘(5) QUALIFYING
NATIONAL
GUARD
DUTY.— 
The term ‘qualifying National Guard duty during a 
war or other military operation or national emer-
gency’ means service as a member of the National 
Guard on full-time National Guard duty (as defined 
in section 101(d)(5) of title 10, United States Code) 
under a call to active service authorized by the 
President or the Secretary of Defense for a period 
of more than 30 consecutive days under section 
502(f) of title 32, United States Code, in connection 
with a war, another military operation, or a national 
emergency declared by the President and supported 
by Federal funds.’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to loans for which the 
first disbursement is made on or after July 1, 1993, to
an individual who is a new borrower (within the meaning 
of section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1003)) on or after such date. 
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