I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5899 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a percentage 
of student loan forgiveness for public service employment, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 14, 2016 
Mr. SWALWELL of California (for himself, Ms. MENG, Mr. BRENDAN F. 
BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. KILMER, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. VEASEY, and 
Mr. TED LIEU of California) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 
for a percentage of student loan forgiveness for public 
service employment, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Forgive-
ness for Public Servants Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM. 
Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:11 Aug 02, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5899.IH
H5899
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
(1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 
subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, except as provided 
in paragraph (5),’’ after ‘‘on any eligible Federal Di-
rect Loan not in default’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) LOAN CANCELLATION FOR NEW LOANS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Beginning after the 
date of enactment of the Strengthening For-
giveness for Public Servants Act, after the con-
clusion of each employment period in a public 
service job, as described in subparagraph (B), 
the Secretary shall cancel the percent specified 
in such subparagraph of the total amount due 
on any eligible Federal Direct Loan made after 
the date of enactment of the Strengthening 
Forgiveness for Public Servants Act for a bor-
rower who is employed in such public service 
job and submits an employment certification 
form described in subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(B) PERCENT AMOUNT.—The percent of 
a loan that shall be canceled under subpara-
graph (A) is as follows: 
‘‘(i) In the case of a borrower who 
completes 2 years of employment in a pub-
lic service job, 15 percent of the total 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:11 Aug 02, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5899.IH
H5899
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 
Loan on the date the borrower commenced 
employment in such public service job. 
‘‘(ii) In the case of a borrower who 
completes 4 years of employment in a pub-
lic service job, 15 percent of the total 
amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 
Loan on the date the borrower commenced 
employment in such public service job. 
‘‘(iii) In the case of a borrower who 
completes 6 years of employment in a pub-
lic service job, 20 percent of the total 
amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 
Loan on the date the borrower commenced 
employment in such public service job. 
‘‘(iv) In the case of a borrower who 
completes 8 years of employment in a pub-
lic service job, 20 percent of the total 
amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 
Loan on the date the borrower commenced 
employment in such public service job. 
‘‘(v) In the case of a borrower who 
completes 10 years of employment in a 
public service job, 30 percent of the total 
amount due on the eligible Federal Direct 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:11 Aug 02, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5899.IH
H5899
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
Loan on the date the borrower commenced 
employment in such public service job. 
‘‘(C) 
EMPLOYMENT
CERTIFICATION 
FORM.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive 
loan cancellation under this paragraph, a 
borrower shall submit to the Secretary an 
employment certification form that is de-
veloped by the Secretary and includes self- 
certification of employment and a separate 
part for employer certification that indi-
cates the dates of employment. 
‘‘(ii) DEFERMENT.—If a borrower 
submits to the Secretary the employment 
certification form described in clause (i), 
during the period in which the borrower is 
employed in a public service job for which 
loan cancellation is eligible under this 
paragraph, the borrower’s eligible Federal 
Direct Loan shall be placed in deferment. 
‘‘(D) INTEREST CANCELED.—If a portion 
of a loan is canceled under this paragraph for 
any year, the entire amount of interest on such 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:11 Aug 02, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5899.IH
H5899
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS