I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2562
To provide financial assistance to law school graduates who choose to accept 
employment in a public interest position. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 23, 2003
Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To provide financial assistance to law school graduates who 
choose to accept employment in a public interest position.
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 ‘‘Public Interest Lawyer 
Assistance and Relief Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The ability to repay financial obligations in-
curred in obtaining a legal education has become a
deterrent to law school graduates accepting public 
interest employment. 
(2) The increasing level of educational debt 
leads recent law school graduates to accept positions 
with private firms offering high salaries rather than 
with lower paying public interest organizations. 
(3) This has led to a decrease in the number 
of attorneys available to serve public needs in gov-
ernment, non-profit, and special interest capacities. 
(4) The establishment of a Federal loan repay-
ment assistance program for attorneys entering pub-
lic interest jobs will increase access to legal services 
in these areas by helping recent law school grad-
uates to meet their educational financial obligations. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 
(a) PROGRAM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 
carry out a program of assuming the obligation to 
repay, pursuant to subsection (c), a loan made, in-
sured, or guaranteed under part B or D of title IV 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (excluding 
loans made under sections 428B and 428C of such 
Act or comparable loans made under part D of such 
title) for any borrower who enters into an agreement
with the Secretary to complete 3 years of service as 
a lawyer employed in a public interest position. 
(2) AWARD BASIS; DEFERMENT.—
(A) 
AWARD
BASIS.—Loan 
repayment 
under this section shall be on a first-come, first-
serve basis and subject to the availability of ap-
propriations, and to any limitations imposed by 
the Secretary under section 5. The Secretary 
shall, on the basis of an application that com-
plies with subsection (d)(1), select from among 
eligible applicants the borrowers with which to 
enter into the agreements described in para-
graph (1). 
(B) DEFERMENT.—The Secretary shall, by 
regulation, provide for the deferment of repay-
ment of loans made, insured, or guaranteed 
under part B or D of title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (excluding loans made 
under sections 428B and 428C of such Act or 
comparable loans made under part D of such 
title) for borrowers who enter into such agree-
ments and provide evidence in accordance with 
such regulations of employment in a position 
qualifying for repayment of such loans under 
paragraph (1).
(3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is author-
ized to prescribe such regulations as may be nec-
essary to carry out the provisions of this section. 
(b) LOAN REPAYMENT.—
(1) ELIGIBLE AMOUNT.—Except as provided by 
the Secretary pursuant to section 5, the amount the 
Secretary may repay on behalf of any individual 
under this section shall not exceed the greater of—
(A) the sum of the principal amounts out-
standing of the individual’s qualifying loans at 
the beginning of the first year of service de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1); or 
(B) a total of more than $20,000. 
(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to authorize the refunding of any 
repayment of a loan made under part B or D of title 
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
(3) INTEREST.—If a portion of a loan is repaid 
by the Secretary under this section for any year, the 
proportionate amount of interest on such loan which 
accrues for such year shall be repaid by the Sec-
retary. 
(c) REPAYMENT TO ELIGIBLE LENDERS.—Except as 
provided by the Secretary pursuant to section 5, the Sec-
retary shall pay to each eligible lender or holder for each
year an amount equal to one-third of the aggregate 
amount of loans which are subject to repayment pursuant 
to subsection (b)(1). 
(d) APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible individual de-
siring loan repayment under this section shall sub-
mit a complete and accurate application to the Sec-
retary at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require. 
(2) ELIGIBLE POSITIONS.—An individual shall 
be treated as serving as a lawyer employed in a pub-
lic interest position under this section after com-
pleting a year of service as a practising attorney in 
a position in—
(A) local, State, or Federal government; 
(B) an organization that is exempt from 
taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986; or 
(C) a judicial clerkship. 
(e) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—A loan 
amount for a consolidation loan made under section 428C 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965, or a Federal Direct 
Consolidation Loan made under part D of title IV of such 
Act, may be a qualified loan amount for the purpose of 
this section only to the extent that such loan amount was
used by a borrower who otherwise meets the requirements 
of this section to repay—
(1) a loan made under section 428 or 428H of 
such Act; or 
(2) a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, or a Fed-
eral Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, made under 
part D of title IV of such Act. 
(f) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No bor-
rower may, for the same service, receive a benefit under 
both this section and subtitle D of title I of the National 
and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 
et seq.). 
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION. 
The Secretary shall create or designate an admin-
istering body within the Department of Education to—
(1) establish and determine eligibility criteria 
under this Act; 
(2) alter the limits on the amount of loan re-
payment assistance participants may receive during 
their period of participation under section 3; 
(3) alter the limits on the amount of time a law 
school graduate may participate in the loan assist-
ance repayment program under section 3; 
(4) accept funding and gifts on behalf of the 
program;
(5) raise funds on behalf of the program; and 
(6) disburse funds or designate another entity 
to do so on behalf of the program. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 
2003 and for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
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