I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2855 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate the time limitation 

for use of eligibility and entitlement to educational assistance under 

certain programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2015 

Mr. HIGGINS (for himself and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate the 

time limitation for use of eligibility and entitlement to 

educational assistance under certain programs of the Department 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 ‘‘Veterans Education 

5 Flexibility Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:: 

3 (1) According to the ‘‘National Survey of Vet4 erans, Active Duty Service Members, Demobilized 

5 National Guard and Reserve Members, Family 

6 Members, and Surviving Spouses Final Report’’, 

7 commissioned by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

8 in 2010, 20.6 percent of eligible veterans—approxi9 mately 2,621,753 veterans—were unable to use their 

10 GI bill educational benefits because their period of 

11 eligibility expired. 

12 (2) The time limitations for using GI bill edu13 cational benefits do not reflect the realities of the 

14 modern economy of the United States. After leaving 

15 the service, many veterans postpone further edu16 cation to join the workforce and support their fami17 lies or are faced with lengthy rehabilitations from 

18 service-related injuries. 

19 (3) Access to education and job retraining has 

20 proved the arbiter of success in today’s economy, 

21 and if the United States is to lower the unemploy22 ment rate among the veteran population, the United 

23 States must provide veterans unfettered access to 

24 educational benefits. 

25 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to remove 

26 the delimiting dates and retroactively restore the DepartVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2855.IH H2855

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1 ment of Veterans Affairs Educational benefits within the 

2 Post-Vietnam Era Veterans’ Educational Assistance Pro3 gram (VEAP), Montgomery GI Bill–Active Duty (MGIB– 

4 AD), and Post-9/11 GI Bill. 

5 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF TIME LIMITATION FOR USE OF 

6 ELIGIBILITY AND ENTITLEMENT TO EDU7 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE. 

8 (a) MONTGOMERY GI BILL–ACTIVE DUTY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3031 of chapter 30 

10 of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read 

11 as follows: 

12 ‘‘§ 3031. Extension of entitlement to educational as13 sistance expiring during a quarter or se14 mester or after a major portion of a 

15 course is complete 

16 ‘‘(a) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OPERATING ON

17 QUARTER OR SEMESTER SYSTEM.—If an individual eligi18 ble for educational assistance under this chapter is en19 rolled under this chapter in an educational institution reg20 ularly operated on the quarter or semester system and the 

21 period of such individual’s entitlement under this chapter 

22 would, under section 3013, expire during a quarter or se23 mester, such period shall be extended to the end of such 

24 quarter or semester. 


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1 ‘‘(b) OTHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.—If an in2 dividual eligible for educational assistance under this 

3 chapter is enrolled under this chapter in an educational 

4 institution not regularly operated on the quarter or semes5 ter system and the period of such individual’s entitlement 

6 under this chapter would, under section 3013, expire after 

7 a major portion of the course is completed, such period 

8 shall be extended to the end of the course or for 12 weeks, 

9 whichever is the lesser period of extension.’’. 

10 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec11 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

12 by striking the item relating to section 3031 and in13 serting the following new item: 

‘‘3031. Extension of entitlement to educational assistance expiring during a 

quarter or semester or after a major portion of a course is 

complete.’’. 

14 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 33 

15 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (A) in section 3018C(e)(3)(B)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘(i) The Secretary’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking clause (ii); and 

20 (B) in section 3020— 

21 (i) in subsection (f)(1), by striking 

22 ‘‘Subject to the time limitation for use of 

23 entitlement under section 3031 of this 

24 title, an’’ and inserting ‘‘An’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subsection (h), by striking 

2 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 3031 of this 

3 title, a’’ and inserting ‘‘A’’. 

4 (b) POST-VIETNAM ERA VETERANS’ EDUCATIONAL

5 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM .— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3232 of title 38, 

7 United States Code, is amended— 

8 (A) by striking subsections (a) and (b); 

9 and 

10 (B) by redesignating subsections (c) and 

11 (d) as subsections (a) and (b), respectively. 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

13 3035(b)(1) of title 38, United States Code, is 

14 amended by striking ‘‘and from’’ and all that follows 

15 through ‘‘title’’. 

16 (c) POST-9/11 GI BILL.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3321 of chapter 30 

18 of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read 

19 as follows: 

20 ‘‘§ 3321. Extension of entitlement to educational as21 sistance expiring during a quarter or se22 mester or after a major portion of a 

23 course is complete 

24 ‘‘Section 3031 shall apply with respect to the termi25 nation of an individual’s entitlement to educational assistVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jun 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2855.IH H2855

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1 ance under this chapter in the same manner as such sec2 tion applies to the termination of an individual’s entitle3 ment to educational assistance under chapter 30, except 

4 that, in the administration of such section for purposes 

5 of this chapter, the reference to section 3013 shall be 

6 deemed to be a reference to section 3312 of this title.’’. 

7 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec8 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

9 by striking the item relating to section 3321 and in10 serting the following new item: 

‘‘3321. Extension of entitlement to educational assistance expiring during a 

quarter or semester or after a major portion of a course is 

complete.’’. 

11 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 33 

12 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

13 (A) in section 3312(b), by striking 

14 ‘‘3321(b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘3321’’; 

15 (B) in section 3319— 

16 (i) in subsection (f)(1), by striking 

17 ‘‘Subject to’’ and all that follows through 

18 ‘‘an’’ and inserting ‘‘An’’; and 

19 (ii) in subsection (h)(5)(A), by strik20 ing ‘‘may use’’ and all that follows through 

21 ‘‘but’’. 

22 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS FOR RESERVE COM23 PONENT PROGRAMS.— 


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1 (1) SELECTED RESERVE.—Section 16133(b) of 

2 title 10, United States Code, is amended— 

3 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘section 

4 3031(f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) 

5 of section 3031’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, as 

7 such section existed on the day before the date 

8 of the enactment of the Veterans Education 

9 Flexibility Act,’’ after ‘‘title 38’’. 

10 (2) OTHER RESERVE COMPONENTS.—Section 

11 16164(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code, is 

12 amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(2) The following provisions shall apply to the pe14 riod of entitlement prescribed by paragraph (1): 

15 ‘‘(A) Subsections (a) and (b) of section 3031 of 

16 title 38. 

17 ‘‘(B) Subsection (d) of section 3031 of title 38, 

18 as such subsection existed on the day before the date 

19 of the enactment of the Veterans Education Flexi20 bility Act.’’. 

21 (e) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

22 section shall apply with respect to any individual who has 

23 been entitled to educational assistance under chapters 30, 

24 32, or 33 of title 38, United States Code. For purposes 

25 of determining the number of months of entitlement to 


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1 such educational assistance that an individual is entitled 

2 to, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall disregard any 

3 delimiting date eliminated by this Act that occurred before 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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