II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3925 

To protect the entitlement of individuals to Post-9/11 Educational Assistance 

who discontinue pursuit of a program of education during the national 

emergency relating to the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 9, 2020 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To protect the entitlement of individuals to Post-9/11 Educational Assistance who discontinue pursuit of a program 

of education during the national emergency relating to 

the COVID–19 pandemic, 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. PROTECTION OF ENTITLEMENT TO POST-9/11 

4 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE DURING COVID– 

5 19 PANDEMIC. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any payment of educational as7 sistance described in subsection (b) shall not— 


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1 (1) be charged against any entitlement to edu2 cational assistance of the individual under chapter 

3 33 of title 38, United States Code, including entitle4 ment to benefits under section 3320 of such title; or 

5 (2) be counted against the aggregate period for 

6 which section 3695 of such title limits the receipt of 

7 educational assistance by such individual. 

8 (b) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE DESCRIBED.—Sub9 ject to subsection (d), the payment of educational assist10 ance described in this subsection is the payment of such 

11 assistance to an individual for pursuit of a course or 

12 courses under such chapter if the individual— 

13 (1) discontinued such course pursuit for any 

14 reason during the COVID–19 pandemic period de15 scribed in subsection (c); and 

16 (2) failed to receive credit or lost training time 

17 toward completion of the program of education being 

18 so pursued. 

19 (c) COVID–19 PANDEMIC PERIOD DESCRIBED.— 

20 The COVID–19 pandemic period described in this sub21 section is the period beginning on the date of the com22 mencement of the national emergency declared by the 

23 President under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 

24 1601 et seq.) with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 


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1 2019 (COVID–19) and ending on the date that is the ear2 lier of— 

3 (1) the date on which the President revokes 

4 such declaration; and 

5 (2) the date on which such national emergency 

6 expires. 

7 (d) PERIOD NOT CHARGED.—The period for which, 

8 by reason of this section, educational assistance is not 

9 charged against entitlement or counted toward the appli10 cable aggregate period under section 3695 of this title 

11 shall not exceed the aggregate of— 

12 (1) the portion of the period of enrollment in 

13 the course or courses from which the individual did 

14 not receive credit or with respect to which the indi15 vidual lost training time, as determined under sub16 section (b)(2); and 

17 (2) the period by which a monthly stipend is ex18 tended under subsection (e). 

19 (e) CONTINUED PAYMENT OF SUBSISTENCE ALLOW20 ANCE.—Notwithstanding section 3680(a)(1) of such title, 

21 the Secretary may, pursuant to such regulations as the 

22 Secretary shall prescribe, continue to pay allowances to 

23 eligible persons enrolled in courses described in subsection 

24 (b) solely for the purpose of awarding a monthly housing 

25 stipend described in section 3313 of such title or section 


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1 116(d) of Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assist2 ance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–48; 38 U.S.C. 3001 

3 note), during periods following the discontinuation of a 

4 course or courses pursuit described in subsection (b)(1), 

5 except that payment of such stipend may only continue 

6 until the earlier of— 

7 (1) the date of the end of the term, quarter, or 

8 semester during which the discontinuation occurred; 

9 and 

10 (2) the date that is 28 days after the date of 

11 the discontinuation. 

12 (f) ADDITIONAL RELIEF.— 

13 (1) TUTORIAL ASSISTANCE.—Any amount re14 ceived under section 3314 of such title for tutorial 

15 assistance under such section that was discontinued 

16 during the COVID–19 pandemic period described in 

17 subsection (c) because of the national emergency de18 scribed in such subsection shall not count toward the 

19 aggregate amount under subsection (c) of such sec20 tion. 

21 (2) ASSISTANCE FOR RELOCATION OR TRAV22 EL.—Any amount received under section 3318 of 

23 such title if the amount was paid during— 


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1 (A) the academic term of a course that 

2 was discontinued as described in subsection 

3 (b)(1); 

4 (B) the 30-day period immediately pre5 ceding such academic term; or 

6 (C) the 30-day period immediately fol7 lowing such academic term. 

8 (3) TESTS.—Educational assistance received 

9 under section 3315 or 3315A of such title for a test 

10 that the Secretary finds could not be taken because 

11 of the national emergency described in subsection (c) 

12 shall not be charged against entitlement under sec13 tion 3315(c) or section 3315A(c) of such title, re14 spectively. 

15 (g) WAIVER OF CERTAIN REGULATION.—Section 

16 21.7020(b)(19)(ii) of title 38, Code of Federal Regula17 tions, as in effect on the day before the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, shall not apply to any discontinuation 

19 or withdrawal described in this section. 

Æ 


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