II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4396 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize an individual who 

is awarded the Purple Heart for service in the Armed Forces to transfer 

unused Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to a family member, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23, 2024 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize an 

individual who is awarded the Purple Heart for service 

in the Armed Forces to transfer unused Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to a family member, 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 ‘‘Purple Heart Veterans 

5 Education Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR INDIVIDUALS AWARDED PURPLE 

2 HEART TO TRANSFER UNUSED POST-9/11 

3 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO A FAMILY 

4 MEMBER. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 33 of 

6 title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

7 section 3319 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 3319A. Authority for recipients of Purple Heart to 

9 transfer unused Post-9/11 Educational As10 sistance to a family member 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall permit an 

12 individual described in subsection (b) who is entitled to 

13 educational assistance under this chapter to elect to trans14 fer to one or more of the dependents specified in sub15 section (c) a portion of such individual’s entitlement to 

16 such assistance, subject to the limitation under subsection 

17 (d). 

18 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—An individual re19 ferred to in subsection (a) is any veteran who is awarded, 

20 after being discharged or release from service in the active 

21 military, naval, air, or space service, the Purple Heart for 

22 service in the Armed Forces occurring on or after Sep23 tember 11, 2001. 

24 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE DEPENDENTS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) TRANSFER.—An individual approved to 

26 transfer an entitlement to educational assistance 


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1 under this section may transfer the individual’s enti2 tlement to an eligible dependent or a combination of 

3 eligible dependents. 

4 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE DEPENDENT.— 

5 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘eligible 

6 dependent’ has the meaning given the term ‘depend7 ent’ under subparagraphs (A), (D), and (I) of sec8 tion 1072(2) of title 10. 

9 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON MONTHS OF TRANSFER.—The 

10 total number of months of entitlement transferred by an 

11 individual under this section may not exceed 36 months. 

12 ‘‘(e) DESIGNATION OF TRANSFEREE.—An individual 

13 transferring an entitlement to educational assistance 

14 under this section shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) designate the dependent or dependents to 

16 whom such entitlement is being transferred; and 

17 ‘‘(2) designate the number of months of such 

18 entitlement to be transferred to each such depend19 ent. 

20 ‘‘(f) REVOCATION AND MODIFICATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) MODIFICATION OR REVOCATION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual trans23 ferring entitlement under this section may mod24 ify or revoke at any time the transfer of any 


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1 unused portion of the entitlement so trans2 ferred. 

3 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—The modification or rev4 ocation of the transfer of entitlement under this 

5 paragraph shall be made by the submittal of 

6 written notice of the action to the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON TREATMENT OF TRANS8 FERRED ENTITLEMENT AS MARITAL PROPERTY.— 

9 Entitlement transferred under this section may not 

10 be treated as marital property, or the asset of a 

11 marital estate, subject to division in a divorce or 

12 other civil proceeding. 

13 ‘‘(g) COMMENCEMENT OF USE.—A dependent to 

14 whom entitlement to educational assistance is transferred 

15 under this section may not commence the use of the trans16 ferred entitlement, in the case of entitlement transferred 

17 to a child, until either— 

18 ‘‘(1) the completion by the child of the require19 ments of a secondary school diploma (or equivalency 

20 certificate); or 

21 ‘‘(2) the attainment by the child of 18 years of 

22 age. 

23 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) USE.—The use of any entitlement to edu25 cational assistance transferred under this section 


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1 shall be charged against the entitlement of the indi2 vidual making the transfer at the rate of one month 

3 for each month of transferred entitlement that is 

4 used. 

5 ‘‘(2) NATURE OF TRANSFERRED ENTITLE6 MENT.—Except as provided under subsection (e)(2) 

7 and subject to paragraphs (5) and (6), the recipient 

8 of entitlement transferred under this section is enti9 tled to educational assistance under this chapter in 

10 the same manner as the individual from whom the 

11 entitlement was transferred. 

12 ‘‘(3) RATE OF PAYMENT.—The monthly rate of 

13 educational assistance payable to a dependent to 

14 whom entitlement referred to in paragraph (2) is 

15 transferred under this section shall be payable at the 

16 same rate as such entitlement would otherwise be 

17 payable under this chapter to the individual making 

18 the transfer. 

19 ‘‘(4) DEATH OF TRANSFEROR.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The death of an indi21 vidual transferring an entitlement under this 

22 section shall not affect the use of the entitle23 ment by the dependent to whom the entitlement 

24 is transferred. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DEATH PRIOR TO TRANSFER TO DES2 IGNATED TRANSFEREES.—(i) In the case of an 

3 eligible individual whom the Secretary, in con4 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, has ap5 proved to transfer the individual’s entitlement 

6 under this section who, at the time of death, is 

7 entitled to educational assistance under this 

8 chapter and has designated a transferee or 

9 transferees under subsection (e) but has not 

10 transferred all of such entitlement to such 

11 transferee or transferees, the Secretary shall 

12 transfer the entitlement of the individual under 

13 this section by evenly distributing the amount 

14 of such entitlement between all such transferees 

15 who would not be precluded from using some or 

16 all of the transferred benefits due to the expira17 tion of time limitations found in paragraph (5) 

18 of this subsection or section 3321 of this title, 

19 notwithstanding the limitations under sub20 section (f). 

21 ‘‘(ii) If a transferee cannot use all of the 

22 transferred benefits under clause (i) because of 

23 expiration of a time limitation, the unused ben24 efits will be distributed among the other des25 ignated transferees who would not be precluded 


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1 from using some or all of the transferred bene2 fits due to expiration of time limitations found 

3 in paragraph (5) of this subsection or section 

4 3321 of this title, unless or until there are no 

5 transferees who would not be precluded from 

6 using the transferred benefits because of expira7 tion of a time limitation. 

8 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON AGE OF USE BY CHILD

9 TRANSFEREES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A child to whom enti11 tlement is transferred under this section may 

12 use the benefits transferred without regard to 

13 the 15-year delimiting date specified in section 

14 3321, but may not, except as provided in sub15 paragraph (B) or (C), use any benefits so 

16 transferred after attaining the age of 26 years. 

17 ‘‘(B) PRIMARY CAREGIVERS OF SERIOUSLY

18 INJURED MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES

19 AND VETERANS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

21 (ii), in the case of a child who, before at22 taining the age of 26 years, is prevented 

23 from pursuing a chosen program of edu24 cation by reason of acting as the primary 

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1 eran or member of the Armed Forces 

2 under section 1720G(a), the child may use 

3 the benefits beginning on the date specified 

4 in clause (iii) for a period whose length is 

5 specified in clause (iv). 

6 ‘‘(ii) INAPPLICABILITY FOR REVOCA7 TION.—Clause (i) shall not apply with re8 spect to the period of an individual as a 

9 primary provider of personal care services 

10 if the period concludes with the revocation 

11 of the individual’s designation as such a 

12 primary provider under section 

13 1720G(a)(7)(D). 

14 ‘‘(iii) DATE FOR COMMENCEMENT OF

15 USE.—The date specified in this clause for 

16 the beginning of the use of benefits by a 

17 child under clause (i) is the later of— 

18 ‘‘(I) the date on which the child 

19 ceases acting as the primary provider 

20 of personal care services for the vet21 eran or member concerned as de22 scribed in clause (i); 

23 ‘‘(II) the date on which it is rea24 sonably feasible, as determined under 

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1 retary, for the child to initiate or re2 sume the use of benefits; or 

3 ‘‘(III) the date on which the child 

4 attains the age of 26 years. 

5 ‘‘(iv) LENGTH OF USE.—The length 

6 of the period specified in this clause for the 

7 use of benefits by a child under clause (i) 

8 is the length equal to the length of the pe9 riod that— 

10 ‘‘(I) begins on the date on which 

11 the child begins acting as the primary 

12 provider of personal care services for 

13 the veteran or member concerned as 

14 described in clause (i); and 

15 ‘‘(II) ends on the later of— 

16 ‘‘(aa) the date on which the 

17 child ceases acting as the pri18 mary provider of personal care 

19 services for the veteran or mem20 ber as described in clause (i); or 

21 ‘‘(bb) the date on which it is 

22 reasonably feasible, as so deter23 mined, for the child to initiate or 

24 resume the use of benefits. 


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1 ‘‘(C) EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.—In any 

2 case in which the Secretary determines that an 

3 individual to whom entitlement is transferred 

4 under this section has been prevented from pur5 suing the individual’s chosen program of edu6 cation before the individual attains the age of 

7 26 years because the educational institution or 

8 training establishment closed (temporarily or 

9 permanently) under an established policy based 

10 on an Executive order of the President or due 

11 to an emergency situation, the Secretary shall 

12 extend the period during which the individual 

13 may use such entitlement for a period equal to 

14 the number of months that the individual was 

15 so prevented from pursuing the program of 

16 education, as determined by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(6) SCOPE OF USE BY TRANSFEREES.—The 

18 purposes for which a dependent to whom entitlement 

19 is transferred under this section may use such enti20 tlement shall include the pursuit and completion of 

21 the requirements of a secondary school diploma (or 

22 equivalency certificate). 

23 ‘‘(7) ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVI24 SIONS.—The administrative provisions of this chap25 ter shall apply to the use of entitlement transferred 


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1 under this section, except that the dependent to 

2 whom the entitlement is transferred shall be treated 

3 as the eligible individual for purposes of such provi4 sions. 

5 ‘‘(i) OVERPAYMENT.—In the event of an overpayment 

6 of educational assistance with respect to a dependent to 

7 whom entitlement is transferred under this section, the de8 pendent and the individual making the transfer shall be 

9 jointly and severally liable to the United States for the 

10 amount of the overpayment for purposes of section 3685. 

11 ‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—(1) The Secretary shall, in con12 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, prescribe regula13 tions for purposes of this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) Such regulations shall specify— 

15 ‘‘(A) the manner of authorizing the transfer of 

16 entitlements under this section; 

17 ‘‘(B) the eligibility criteria in accordance with 

18 subsection (b); and 

19 ‘‘(C) the manner and effect of an election to 

20 modify or revoke a transfer of entitlement under 

21 subsection (f)(2). 

22 ‘‘(k) TRANSFER BY DEPENDENT.—In the case of an 

23 individual who transfers entitlement to educational assist24 ance under this section who dies before the dependent to 

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1 ferred has used all of such entitlement, such dependent 

2 may transfer such entitlement to another eligible depend3 ent in accordance with the provisions of this section. 

4 ‘‘(l) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Veterans Af5 fairs and the Secretary of Defense shall coordinate with 

6 each other to facilitate the transfer of entitlement under 

7 this section.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

9 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

10 after the item relating to section 3319 the following new 

11 item: 

‘‘3319A. Authority for recipients of Purple Heart to transfer unused Post-9/11 

Educational Assistance to a family member.’’. 

Æ 


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