On Monday night, the U.S. House passed a bill expanding GI Bill benefits without opposition.
The bill, which was introduced by U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., the chairman of the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, ends the current policy of stopping GI Bill benefits of 15 years for new enlistees, covers more members of the National Guard and the reserves and, by bringing in a proposal from U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., ensures Purple Heart recipients have full benefits no matter how long they served in the Armed Forces.
Roe’s proposal also restores benefits for veterans whose schools are shut down including ITT Tech students who were left in dire straits after that proprietary institution closed its doors last year.
U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., the vice chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, cheered the passage of the bill.
“The GI Bill empowers our nation’s heroes to invest in themselves and their futures,” Bilirakis said on Monday night after the bill was passed. “Our legislation passed today expands access to education and workforce training programs that will help veterans enter a new chapter of their lives upon returning home from their service. I am especially proud that this bill includes my provision to update the VA’s Information Technology systems for more efficient GI Bill claims processing. Overall, the House took a major step today in improving, expanding, and modernizing the GI Bill for our veterans.”
Freshman U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., also supported the bill which included his proposal changing veteran higher ed funding to allow more benefits to the surviving spouses and children of military personnel killed in the line of duty. In April, Rutherford filed the “Julian Woods Yellow Ribbon Program Expansion Act.” The proposal, named after a fallen hospital corpsman serving in the Navy, would change the Yellow Ribbon Program to include Fry Scholarship recipients. Fry Scholarships permit education benefits to be transferred from killed service members to their surviving families. Rutherford named the bill to honor Petty Officer 3rd Class Julian Woods who was killed in Iraq while helping a fallen comrade. Woods’ daughter is now college aged and would be helped by the legislation.
On Monday night, Rutherford weighed in on the GI Bill expansion.
“I was proud to vote for legislation that empowers our service men and women, and I applaud the House of Representatives for passing this important legislation,” Rutherford said. “When our brave men and women put on the uniform to protect our nation, we have a sacred responsibility to provide them, and their families, with opportunities in repayment for their service and sacrifice. This package makes important reforms to the GI Bill, including removing the time frame in which it must be used, to improve veterans’ access to quality education. The bill also includes my bipartisan legislation that allows those on the Fry Scholarship to be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program was included as a key provision of this package. I am proud that Julian Woods’ legacy will live on through this bill and will strengthen benefits for those who gave so much to protect our freedoms.”
Mast, who lost both of his legs during his time in the military, praised the GI Bill expansion.
“When my time in the Army was cut short, I was fortunate to be able to use funding from the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill to get my degree at Harvard. Without it, I may not be a member of Congress right now,” Mast said. “Providing a high-quality education to these heroes is the least we can do, which is why I’m proud to have lead this effort to ensure that every single Purple Heart recipient who is honorably discharged can get the benefit of this great program.”
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats from the Sunshine State also lined up behind the bill.
"Our veterans and military families deserve – and have earned through their service and sacrifice – the best care and benefits. We owe them nothing less. As the representative for over 70,000 veterans in Pinellas, I made a promise to fight for them in our nation's capital as they fought for us on the battlefields," said U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla. "Tonight, I was proud to vote to uphold that promise by expanding and strengthening veterans' educational benefits, as well as voting down a misguided proposal that would have jeopardized the quality of care provided at the VA."
At the end of last week, a similar bill was filed in the U.S. Senate by U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., the ranking Democrat on that committee.
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