This week, President Donald Trump signed into law a North Florida Republican’s 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.
Back in April, freshman U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., filed the “Julian Woods Yellow Ribbon Program Expansion Act.” The proposal, named after a fallen hospital corpsman serving in the Navy, alters 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.
The First Coast congressman’s proposal was included in the “Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2017" which Trump signed into law on Monday. Trump also signed a bill creating the Veterans Choice health care program. Under that law, a new outpatient clinic was authorized to be based in Jacksonville.
Rutherford weighed in on the new laws on Monday.
“We are a step closer to providing veterans in Northeast Florida increased access to both excellent health-care and education,” Rutherford said. “When our brave men and women put on the uniform to protect our nation, we have a responsibility to provide for them and their families. These two pieces of legislation will make it easier for veterans to access the health and education benefits they have earned. The Harry Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 reforms the GI Bill by removing the time frame in which benefits must be used and includes my legislation to expand the Yellow Ribbon Program to include those on the Fry Scholarship. The authorization for a replacement outpatient clinic in Jacksonville will make it easier for the over 150,000 veterans in Northeast Florida to access the services they need. I am grateful to President Trump, Secretary Shulkin, and Chairman Roe for their unending dedication to those that have given everything for our nation.”
U.S. Rep. Scott Peters, R-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, D-Fla., who, like Rutherford, also represents parts of Jacksonville, were co-sponsors of the “Julian Woods Yellow Ribbon Expansion Act.”
“San Diego is a proud military town that is home to not just thousands of brave service members, but their families as well,” Peters said back in April when he signed on as a co-sponsor. “Military families make tremendous sacrifices in service to our country and deserve our gratitude and our support. Extending the Yellow Ribbon Program to surviving family members is a common sense way to keep our promise to military families that we will support them after their loved one falls in the line of duty.”'
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