II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1489 

To amend section 3312 of title 38, United States Code, to restore Post9/11 Educational Assistance and other relief for veterans affected by 

school closures, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2017 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. TESTER, Mr. HELLER, Mr. 

YOUNG, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CARPER, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. 

MURPHY, Mr. REED, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend section 3312 of title 38, United States Code, 

to restore Post-9/11 Educational Assistance and other 

relief for veterans affected by school closures, 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 ‘‘Veterans Education 

5 Relief and Reinstatement Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF ENTITLEMENT TO POST-9/11 EDU2 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER RELIEF 

3 FOR VETERANS AFFECTED BY SCHOOL CLO4 SURE. 

5 (a) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3312 of title 38, 

7 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(d) DISCONTINUATION OF EDUCATION DUE TO

10 SCHOOL CLOSURE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any payment of edu12 cational assistance described in paragraph (2) shall 

13 not— 

14 ‘‘(A) be charged against any entitlement to 

15 educational assistance of the individual con16 cerned under this chapter; or 

17 ‘‘(B) be counted against the aggregate pe18 riod for which section 3695 of this title limits 

19 the individual’s receipt of educational assistance 

20 under this chapter. 

21 ‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION OF PAYMENT OF EDU22 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

23 the payment of educational assistance described in 

24 this paragraph is the payment of such assistance to 

25 an individual for pursuit of a course or courses 


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1 under this chapter if the Secretary finds that the in2 dividual— 

3 ‘‘(A) was forced to discontinue such course 

4 pursuit as a result of a permanent school clo5 sure; and 

6 ‘‘(B) did not receive credit, could not 

7 transfer credits, or lost training time, toward 

8 completion of the program of education being 

9 pursued at the time of such closure. 

10 ‘‘(3) PERIOD FOR WHICH PAYMENT NOT

11 CHARGED.—The period for which, by reason of this 

12 subsection, educational assistance is not charged 

13 against entitlement or counted toward the applicable 

14 aggregate period under section 3695 of this title 

15 shall not exceed the aggregate of— 

16 ‘‘(A) the portion of the period of enroll17 ment in the course or courses from which the 

18 individual failed to receive credit or could not 

19 transfer credits, or with respect to which the in20 dividual lost training time, as determined under 

21 paragraph (2)(B); and 

22 ‘‘(B) the period by which monthly stipend 

23 is extended under section 3680(a)(2)(B) of this 

24 title.’’. 


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1 (2) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (d) of such 

2 section, as added by paragraph (1), shall apply with 

3 respect to courses and programs of education discon4 tinued as described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

5 paragraph (2) of such subsection in fiscal year 2015 

6 or any fiscal year thereafter. 

7 (b) MONTHLY HOUSING STIPEND.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3680(a) of such title 

9 is amended— 

10 (A) by striking the matter after paragraph 

11 (3)(B); 

12 (B) in paragraph (3), by redesignating 

13 subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and 

14 (ii), respectively; 

15 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

16 through (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), 

17 respectively; 

18 (D) in the matter before subparagraph 

19 (A), as redesignated, in the first sentence, by 

20 striking ‘‘Payment of’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) Ex21 cept as provided in paragraph (2), payment of’’; 

22 and 

23 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraph (2): 


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1 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Sec2 retary may, pursuant to such regulations as the Sec3 retary shall prescribe, continue to pay allowances to 

4 eligible veterans and eligible persons enrolled in 

5 courses set forth in paragraph (1)(A)— 

6 ‘‘(A) during periods when schools are tem7 porarily closed under an established policy 

8 based on an Executive order of the President or 

9 due to an emergency situation, except that the 

10 total number of weeks for which allowances 

11 may continue to be so payable in any 12-month 

12 period may not exceed four weeks; or 

13 ‘‘(B) solely for the purpose of awarding a 

14 monthly housing stipend described in section 

15 3313 of this title, during periods following a 

16 permanent school closure, except that payment 

17 of such a stipend may only be continued until 

18 the earlier of— 

19 ‘‘(i) the date of the end of the term, 

20 quarter, or semester during which the 

21 school closure occurred; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the date that is four months 

23 after the date of the school closure.’’. 

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph 

25 (1)(C)(ii) of such section, as redesignated, is amendVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:26 Jul 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1489.IS S1489

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1 ed by striking ‘‘described in subclause (A) of this 

2 clause’’ and inserting ‘‘described in clause (i)’’. 

Æ 


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