I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3240 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Higher Education Act of 
1965 to require additional disclosures and protections for students and 
cosigners with respect to student loans, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 21, 2011 
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself and Mr. RUNYAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 to require additional disclosures and 
protections for students and cosigners with respect to 
student loans, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Christopher Bryski Student Loan Protection Act’’ or 
‘‘Christopher’s Law’’. 
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(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) No requirement exists for private edu-
cational lenders’ promissory notes to include a clear 
and conspicuous description of the responsibilities of 
a borrower and cosigner in the event the borrower 
or cosigner becomes disabled, incapacitated, or dies. 
(2) An estimated 1,700,000 people sustain a 
traumatic brain injury each year, with older adoles-
cents aged 15 to 19 years old more likely to sustain 
a traumatic brain injury than other age groups. 
(3) It has been estimated that the annual inci-
dence of spinal cord injury, not including those who 
die at the scene of an accident, is approximately 40 
cases per 1,000,000 people in the United States or 
approximately 12,000 new cases each year. These in-
juries can lead to permanent disability or loss of 
movement and can prohibit the victim from engaging 
in any substantial gainful activity. 
(4) In the 2007–2008 academic year, 13 per-
cent of students attending a 4-year public institution 
of higher education, and 26.2 percent of students at-
tending a 4-year private institution of higher edu-
cation, borrowed monies from private educational 
lenders. 
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(5) According to Sallie Mae, in 2009, the per-
centage of cosigned private education loans in-
creased from 66 percent to 84 percent of all private 
education loans. 
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL STUDENT LOAN PROTECTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 140 of the Truth in Lend-
ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1650) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL
PROTECTIONS
RELATING
TO 
DEATH OR DISABILITY OF BORROWER OR COSIGNER OF 
A PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.— 
‘‘(1) CLEAR
AND
CONSPICUOUS
DESCRIPTION 
OF COSIGNER’S OBLIGATION.—In the case of any 
private educational lender who extends a private 
education loan for which any cosigner is jointly lia-
ble, the lender shall clearly and conspicuously de-
scribe, in writing, the cosigner’s obligations with re-
spect to the loan, including the effect the death, dis-
ability, or inability to engage in any substantial 
gainful activity of the borrower or any cosigner 
would have on any such obligation, in language that 
the Bureau determines would give a reasonable per-
son a reasonable understanding of the obligation 
being assumed by becoming a cosigner for the loan. 
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‘‘(2) MODEL FORM.—The Bureau shall publish 
a model form under section 105 for describing a co-
signer’s obligation for purposes of paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF DEATH, DISABILITY, OR 
INABILITY TO ENGAGE IN ANY SUBSTANTIAL GAIN-
FUL ACTIVITY.—For the purposes of this subsection 
with respect to a borrower or cosigner, the term 
‘death, disability, or inability to engage in any sub-
stantial gainful activity’— 
‘‘(A) means any condition described in sec-
tion 437(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)); and 
‘‘(B) shall be interpreted by the Bureau in 
such a manner as to conform with the regula-
tions prescribed by the Secretary of Education 
under section 437(a) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 
1087(a)) to the fullest extent practicable, in-
cluding safeguards to prevent fraud and 
abuse.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (a) of section 140 of 
the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 
(8) as paragraphs (2) through (9), respectively; and 
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