S.Amdt. 2933

SA 2933. Mr. BAYH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 1585, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2008 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle E of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1070. NO ACCRUAL OF INTEREST ON FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS FOR ACTIVE DUTY SERVICE MEMBERS AND THEIR SPOUSES.

(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the “Interest Relief Act”.

(b) No Accrual of Interest for Active Duty Service Members and Their Spouses.--Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(m) No Accrual of Interest for Active Duty Service Members and Their Spouses.--

“(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, and except as provided in paragraph (3), interest on a loan made under this part shall not accrue for an eligible borrower.

“(2) Eligible borrower.--In this subsection, the term ‘eligible borrower' means an individual--

“(A) who is--

“(i) serving on active duty during a war or other military operation or national emergency; or

“(ii) performing qualifying National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or national emergency; or

“(B) who is the spouse of an individual described in subparagraph (A).

“(3) Limitation.--An individual who qualifies as an eligible borrower under this subsection may receive the benefit of this subsection for not more than 60 months.”.

(c) Consolidation Loans.--Section 428C(b)(5) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-3(b)(5)) is amended by inserting after the first sentence the following: “In addition, in the event that a borrower chooses to obtain a consolidation loan for the purposes of using the no accrual of interest for active duty service members and their spouses program offered under section 455(m), the Secretary shall offer any such borrower who applies for it, a Federal Direct Consolidation loan.”.