I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4074 
To provide student loan forgiveness to the surviving spouses and parents 
of victims who were Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita first responders. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 18, 2005 
Mrs. MCCARTHY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To provide student loan forgiveness to the surviving spouses 
and parents of victims who were Hurricane Katrina or 
Hurricane Rita first responders. 
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 ‘‘Hurricane First Re-
sponder Surviving Spouse Student Loan Relief Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CANCELLATION OF STUDENT LOAN INDEBTEDNESS 
FOR SPOUSES AND PARENTS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) ELIGIBLE VICTIM.—The term ‘‘eligible vic-
tim’’ means an individual who served as police, fire,
safety, rescue, medical, or other emergency per-
sonnel, or as a member of the Armed Forces, and 
who died (or dies) or became (or becomes) perma-
nently and totally disabled due to injuries incurred 
while responding to or caring for victims of Hurri-
cane Katrina or Hurricane Rita, or of the flood or 
other consequences of Hurricane Katrina or Hurri-
cane Rita, as determined in accordance with regula-
tions of the Secretary. 
(2) ELIGIBLE
SPOUSE.—The term ‘‘eligible 
spouse’’ means the spouse of an eligible victim. 
(3) ELIGIBLE
PARENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 
parent’’ means an individual who is the parent of an 
eligible victim and who is the borrower of a Federal 
PLUS loan under section 428B, or a Federal Direct 
PLUS loan under part D of title IV, of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965, that was obtained and used 
for the cost of attendance of such eligible victim. 
Such an individual is an eligible parent for purposes 
of this Act only with repect to the amounts owed on 
such loan. 
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
(5) FEDERAL
STUDENT
LOAN.—The term 
‘‘Federal student loan’’ means any loan made, in-
sured, or guaranteed under part B, D, or E of title 
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
(b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide for 
the discharge or cancellation of the Federal student loan 
indebtedness of an eligible spouse or an eligible parent in 
the same manner that the Federal student loan indebted-
ness of an eligible victim is required to be discharged or 
canceled 
under 
sections 
437(a), 
455(a)(1), 
and 
464(c)(1)(F) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1087(a), 1087e(a)(1), 1087dd(c)(1)(F)), as the 
case may be. Such discharge or cancellation shall apply 
to the principal and accrued unpaid interest outstanding 
on the date of the injury causing the death or disability 
of the eligible victim. 
(c) FACILITATION
OF
CLAIMS.—The Secretary 
shall— 
(1) by regulation, establish procedures for the 
filing of applications for discharge or cancellation 
under this section, which regulations shall be pre-
scribed and published within 30 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act and without regard to the 
requirements of section 553 of title 5, United States 
Code; and 
(2) take such actions as may be necessary to 
publicize the availability of discharge or cancellation
of Federal student loan indebtedness for eligible 
spouses and eligible parents under this section. 
(d) AVAILABILITY
OF FUNDS
FOR PAYMENTS.— 
Funds available for the purposes of making payments to 
lenders in accordance with section 437(a) for the dis-
charge of indebtedness of eligible victims shall be available 
for making payments under section 437(a) to the spouses 
and parents of such individuals as required by this section. 
(e) NO DELAY IN REGULATIONS.—Sections 482(c) 
and 492 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1089(c), 1098a) shall not apply to the regulations re-
quired by this section. 
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