I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1255 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend to Black veterans of 

World War II, and surviving spouses and certain direct descendants 

of such veterans, eligibility for certain housing loans and educational 

assistance administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2023 

Mr. MOULTON (for himself and Mr. CLYBURN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend to Black 

veterans of World War II, and surviving spouses and 

certain direct descendants of such veterans, eligibility 

for certain housing loans and educational assistance administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sgt. Isaac Woodard, 

5 Jr. and Sgt. Joseph H. Maddox GI Bill Restoration Act 

6 of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) African Americans played a pivotal role in 

4 the war effort during World War II, with more than 

5 1,200,000 African Americans serving in the Armed 

6 Forces, and, by 1945, approximately 1.9 percent of 

7 all officers in the Armed Forces were African Ameri8 cans. 

9 (2) Following World War II, the Servicemen’s 

10 Readjustment Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 284, commonly 

11 known as the ‘‘GI Bill’’) offered substantial material 

12 benefits to 16,000,000 veterans to assist them in re13 integrating into civil society. 

14 (3) The GI Bill offered a range of economic and 

15 educational benefits administered by the Federal 

16 Government through the Secretary of the Veterans 

17 Administration, including monetary assistance to ac18 cess higher education, government guarantees for 

19 housing loans, unemployment allowances, and civil20 ian workforce reentry assistance. 

21 (4) Though the legislative text of the GI Bill 

22 was race neutral, the administration of benefits 

23 through national, State, and local Veterans Adminis24 tration offices resulted in a pattern of discrimination 

25 against racial minorities, especially African Ameri26 cans. 


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1 (5) Veterans Administration benefits counselors 

2 denied African Americans access to educational ben3 efits at certain universities and funneled applicants 

4 into industrial and vocational schools rather than 

5 higher education opportunities, with just 6 percent 

6 of African-American veterans of World War II earn7 ing a college degree, compared to 19 percent of 

8 White veterans of World War II. 

9 (6) In administering its housing guaranty pro10 gram, the Veterans Administration adopted the Fed11 eral Housing Administration’s racial exclusion pro12 grams, also known as redlining, which excluded a 

13 significant number of African Americans from tak14 ing full advantage of the housing guaranty program. 

15 (7) The GI Bill created substantial economic 

16 growth and wealth accumulation for those who could 

17 benefit, but discriminatory administration of the 

18 program prevented many African-American veterans 

19 of World War II from enjoying the full economic 

20 prosperity of the post-war period. 


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1 SEC. 3. HOUSING LOANS GUARANTEED BY THE SECRETARY 

2 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR BLACK VET3 ERANS OF WORLD WAR II AND SURVIVORS 

4 AND CERTAIN DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF 

5 SUCH VETERANS. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Chapter 37 of title 38, 

7 United States Code, is amended as follows: 

8 (1) DEFINITION.—Section 3701(b) of such title 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraphs: 

11 ‘‘(8) The term ‘veteran’ also includes, for pur12 poses of housing loans, an individual who— 

13 ‘‘(A) is Black; 

14 ‘‘(B) served on active duty as a member of 

15 the Armed Forces during World War II; and 

16 ‘‘(C) certifies to the Secretary that such 

17 individual was denied a specific benefit under 

18 the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (58 

19 Stat. 284) on the basis of race. 

20 ‘‘(9) The term ‘veteran’ also includes, for pur21 poses of housing loans, an individual who— 

22 ‘‘(A) is the surviving spouse, child, grand23 child, or other direct descendant of a veteran 

24 described in paragraph (8); 

25 ‘‘(B) certifies to the Secretary that such 

26 veteran described in paragraph (8) was denied 


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1 a specific benefit under the Servicemen’s Read2 justment Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 284) on the 

3 basis of race; and 

4 ‘‘(C) is living on the date of the enactment 

5 of the Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr. and Sgt. Joseph 

6 H. Maddox GI Bill Restoration Act of 2023.’’. 

7 (2) BASIC ENTITLEMENT.—Section 

8 3702(a)(2)(E) of such title is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following new subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(H) Each individual— 

11 ‘‘(i) described in paragraph (8) or (9) of 

12 section 3701(b) of this title; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) who applies for a housing loan during 

14 the five-year period beginning on the date of 

15 the enactment of the Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr. 

16 and Sgt. Joseph H. Maddox GI Bill Restoration 

17 Act of 2023.’’. 

18 (b) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

19 amendment made by this section not later than 90 days 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Veterans Af22 fairs shall prescribe regulations to carry out the amend23 ments made by this section. 

24 (d) GAO REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

25 deadline under subsection (b), the Comptroller General of 


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1 the United States shall submit to Congress a report re2 garding— 

3 (1) the number of individuals who received 

4 housing loan benefits pursuant to the amendments 

5 made by this section; and 

6 (2) the total value of housing loan benefits ad7 ministered by the Secretary pursuant to the amend8 ments made by this section. 

9 SEC. 4. EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR SURVIVORS AND 

10 CERTAIN DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF BLACK 

11 VETERANS OF WORLD WAR II. 

12 (a) ENTITLEMENT.—Subsection (b) of section 3311 

13 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(12) An individual— 

16 ‘‘(A) described in section 3701(b)(9) of 

17 this title; and 

18 ‘‘(B) who applies for educational assistance 

19 under this chapter during the five-year period 

20 beginning on the date of the enactment of the 

21 Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr. and Sgt. Joseph H. 

22 Maddox GI Bill Restoration Act of 2023.’’. 

23 (b) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

24 amendment made by this section not later than 90 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Veterans Af2 fairs shall prescribe regulations to carry out the amend3 ment made by this section. 

4 (d) GAO REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

5 deadline under subsection (b), the Comptroller General of 

6 the United States shall submit to Congress a report re7 garding— 

8 (1) the number of individuals who received edu9 cational assistance pursuant to the amendment 

10 made by this section; and 

11 (2) the total amount of educational assistance 

12 paid by the Secretary pursuant to the amendment 

13 made by this section. 

14 SEC. 5. BLUE RIBBON PANEL ON BENEFITS AND ASSIST15 ANCE FOR FEMALE AND MINORITY VET16 ERANS. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

19 Veterans Affairs shall, pursuant to the Federal Advisory 

20 Committee Act (Public Law 92–463; 5 U.S.C. App.), ap21 point a panel of independent experts on— 

22 (1) inequities in the distribution of benefits and 

23 assistance administered by the Secretary; and 

24 (2) military service by female and minority 

25 members of the Armed Forces. 


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1 (b) DUTIES.—The panel shall develop recommenda2 tions regarding additional benefits and assistance for indi3 viduals described in subsection (a)(2), and related legisla4 tion. 

5 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, the panel shall submit to 

7 Congress and the President a report containing the rec8 ommendations developed under this section. 

Æ 


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