I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8896 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2024 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which 

was 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. AUTHORITY FOR INDIVIDUALS AWARDED PUR2 PLE 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 of 

7 Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense. 

8 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON TREATMENT OF TRANS9 FERRED ENTITLEMENT AS MARITAL PROPERTY.— 

10 Entitlement transferred under this section may not 

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

12 marital estate, subject to division in a divorce or 

13 other civil proceeding. 

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

15 whom entitlement to educational assistance is transferred 

16 under this section may not commence the use of the trans17 ferred entitlement, in the case of entitlement transferred 

18 to a child, until either— 

19 ‘‘(1) the completion by the child of the require20 ments of a secondary school diploma (or equivalency 

21 certificate); or 

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

23 age. 

24 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) USE.—The use of any entitlement to edu2 cational assistance transferred under this section 

3 shall be charged against the entitlement of the indi4 vidual making the transfer at the rate of one month 

5 for each month of transferred entitlement that is 

6 used. 

7 ‘‘(2) NATURE OF TRANSFERRED ENTITLE8 MENT.—Except as provided under subsection (e)(2) 

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

10 of entitlement transferred under this section is enti11 tled to educational assistance under this chapter in 

12 the same manner as the individual from whom the 

13 entitlement was transferred. 

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

15 educational assistance payable to a dependent to 

16 whom entitlement referred to in paragraph (2) is 

17 transferred under this section shall be payable at the 

18 same rate as such entitlement would otherwise be 

19 payable under this chapter to the individual making 

20 the transfer. 

21 ‘‘(4) DEATH OF TRANSFEROR.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The death of an indi23 vidual transferring an entitlement under this 

24 section shall not affect the use of the entitleVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Aug 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8896.IH H8896

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1 ment by the dependent to whom the entitlement 

2 is transferred. 

3 ‘‘(B) DEATH PRIOR TO TRANSFER TO DES4 IGNATED TRANSFEREES.—(i) In the case of an 

5 eligible individual whom the Secretary, in con6 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, has ap7 proved to transfer the individual’s entitlement 

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

9 entitled to educational assistance under this 

10 chapter and has designated a transferee or 

11 transferees under subsection (e) but has not 

12 transferred all of such entitlement to such 

13 transferee or transferees, the Secretary shall 

14 transfer the entitlement of the individual under 

15 this section by evenly distributing the amount 

16 of such entitlement between all such transferees 

17 who would not be precluded from using some or 

18 all of the transferred benefits due to the expira19 tion of time limitations found in paragraph (5) 

20 of this subsection or section 3321 of this title, 

21 notwithstanding the limitations under sub22 section (f). 

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

24 transferred benefits under clause (i) because of 

25 expiration of a time limitation, the unused benVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Aug 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8896.IH H8896

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1 efits will be distributed among the other des2 ignated transferees who would not be precluded 

3 from using some or all of the transferred bene4 fits due to expiration of time limitations found 

5 in paragraph (5) of this subsection or section 

6 3321 of this title, unless or until there are no 

7 transferees who would not be precluded from 

8 using the transferred benefits because of expira9 tion of a time limitation. 

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

11 TRANSFEREES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A child to whom enti13 tlement is transferred under this section may 

14 use the benefits transferred without regard to 

15 the 15-year delimiting date specified in section 

16 3321, but may not, except as provided in sub17 paragraph (B) or (C), use any benefits so 

18 transferred after attaining the age of 26 years. 

19 ‘‘(B) PRIMARY CAREGIVERS OF SERIOUSLY

20 INJURED MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES

21 AND VETERANS.— 

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

23 (ii), in the case of a child who, before at24 taining the age of 26 years, is prevented 

25 from pursuing a chosen program of eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Aug 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8896.IH H8896

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1 cation by reason of acting as the primary 

2 provider of personal care services for a vet3 eran or member of the Armed Forces 

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

5 the benefits beginning on the date specified 

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

7 specified in clause (iv). 

8 ‘‘(ii) INAPPLICABILITY FOR REVOCA9 TION.—Clause (i) shall not apply with re10 spect to the period of an individual as a 

11 primary provider of personal care services 

12 if the period concludes with the revocation 

13 of the individual’s designation as such a 

14 primary provider under section 

15 1720G(a)(7)(D). 

16 ‘‘(iii) DATE FOR COMMENCEMENT OF

17 USE.—The date specified in this clause for 

18 the beginning of the use of benefits by a 

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

20 ‘‘(I) the date on which the child 

21 ceases acting as the primary provider 

22 of personal care services for the vet23 eran or member concerned as de24 scribed in clause (i); 


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1 ‘‘(II) the date on which it is rea2 sonably feasible, as determined under 

3 regulations prescribed by the Sec4 retary, for the child to initiate or re5 sume the use of benefits; or 

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

7 attains the age of 26 years. 

8 ‘‘(iv) LENGTH OF USE.—The length 

9 of the period specified in this clause for the 

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

11 is the length equal to the length of the pe12 riod that— 

13 ‘‘(I) begins on the date on which 

14 the child begins acting as the primary 

15 provider of personal care services for 

16 the veteran or member concerned as 

17 described in clause (i); and 

18 ‘‘(II) ends on the later of— 

19 ‘‘(aa) the date on which the 

20 child ceases acting as the pri21 mary provider of personal care 

22 services for the veteran or mem23 ber as described in clause (i); or 

24 ‘‘(bb) the date on which it is 

25 reasonably feasible, as so deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Aug 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8896.IH H8896

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1 mined, for the child to initiate or 

2 resume the use of benefits. 

3 ‘‘(C) EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.—In any 

4 case in which the Secretary determines that an 

5 individual to whom entitlement is transferred 

6 under this section has been prevented from pur7 suing the individual’s chosen program of edu8 cation before the individual attains the age of 

9 26 years because the educational institution or 

10 training establishment closed (temporarily or 

11 permanently) under an established policy based 

12 on an Executive order of the President or due 

13 to an emergency situation, the Secretary shall 

14 extend the period during which the individual 

15 may use such entitlement for a period equal to 

16 the number of months that the individual was 

17 so prevented from pursuing the program of 

18 education, as determined by the Secretary. 

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

20 purposes for which a dependent to whom entitlement 

21 is transferred under this section may use such enti22 tlement shall include the pursuit and completion of 

23 the requirements of a secondary school diploma (or 

24 equivalency certificate). 


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1 ‘‘(7) ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVI2 SIONS.—The administrative provisions of this chap3 ter shall apply to the use of entitlement transferred 

4 under this section, except that the dependent to 

5 whom the entitlement is transferred shall be treated 

6 as the eligible individual for purposes of such provi7 sions. 

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

9 of educational assistance with respect to a dependent to 

10 whom entitlement is transferred under this section, the de11 pendent and the individual making the transfer shall be 

12 jointly and severally liable to the United States for the 

13 amount of the overpayment for purposes of section 3685. 

14 ‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—(1) The Secretary shall, in con15 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, prescribe regula16 tions for purposes of this section. 

17 ‘‘(2) Such regulations shall specify— 

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

19 entitlements under this section; 

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

21 subsection (b); and 

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

23 modify or revoke a transfer of entitlement under 

24 subsection (f)(2). 


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

2 individual who transfers entitlement to educational assist3 ance under this section who dies before the dependent to 

4 whom entitlement to educational assistance is so trans5 ferred has used all of such entitlement, such dependent 

6 may transfer such entitlement to another eligible depend7 ent in accordance with the provisions of this section. 

8 ‘‘(l) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Veterans Af9 fairs and the Secretary of Defense shall coordinate with 

10 each other to facilitate the transfer of entitlement under 

11 this section.’’. 

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

13 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

14 after the item relating to section 3319 the following new 

15 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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