I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2068 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide veterans affected by 

school closures certain relief and restoration of educational benefits, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Mr. TAKANO (for himself, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. DELBENE, 

Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. 

PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide veterans 

affected by school closures certain relief and restoration 

of educational benefits, 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 ‘‘Department of Vet5 erans Affairs Veterans Education Relief and Restoration 

6 Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF ENTITLEMENT TO EDUCATIONAL 

2 ASSISTANCE AND OTHER RELIEF FOR VET3 ERANS AFFECTED BY SCHOOL CLOSURE. 

4 (a) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 

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

6 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(d) DISCONTINUATION OF EDUCATION DUE TO

9 SCHOOL CLOSURE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any payment of edu11 cational assistance described in paragraph (2) shall 

12 not— 

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

14 educational assistance of the individual con15 cerned under this chapter; or 

16 ‘‘(B) be counted against the aggregate pe17 riod for which section 3695 of this title limits 

18 the individual’s receipt of educational assistance 

19 under this chapter. 

20 ‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION OF PAYMENT OF EDU21 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

22 the payment of educational assistance described in 

23 this paragraph is the payment of such assistance to 

24 an individual for pursuit of a course or courses 

25 under this chapter if the Secretary finds that the in26 dividual— 


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

2 pursuit as a result of a permanent school clo3 sure; and 

4 ‘‘(B) did not receive credit, or lost training 

5 time, toward completion of the program of edu6 cation being pursued at the time of such clo7 sure. 

8 ‘‘(3) PERIOD FOR WHICH PAYMENT NOT

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

10 subsection, educational assistance is not charged 

11 against entitlement or counted toward the applicable 

12 aggregate period under section 3695 of this title 

13 shall not exceed the aggregate of— 

14 ‘‘(A) the portion of the period of enroll15 ment in the course or courses from which the 

16 individual failed to receive credit or with respect 

17 to which the individual lost training time, as de18 termined under paragraph (2)(B); and 

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

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

21 title.’’. 

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

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

24 respect to courses and programs of education discon25 tinued as described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 


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

2 or any fiscal year thereafter. 

3 (b) MONTHLY HOUSING STIPEND.— 

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

5 is amended— 

6 (A) by striking the matter after paragraph 

7 (3)(B); 

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

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

10 (ii), respectively; 

11 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

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

13 respectively; 

14 (D) in the matter before subparagraph 

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

16 striking ‘‘Payment of’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) Ex17 cept as provided in paragraph (2), payment of’’; 

18 and 

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

20 paragraph (2): 

21 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary 

22 may, pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary shall 

23 prescribe, continue to pay allowances to eligible veterans 

24 and eligible persons enrolled in courses set forth in para25 graph (1)(A)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) during periods when schools are tempo2 rarily closed under an established policy based on an 

3 Executive order of the President or due to an emer4 gency situation, except that the total number of 

5 weeks for which allowances may continue to be so 

6 payable in any 12-month period may not exceed four 

7 weeks; or 

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

9 monthly housing stipend described in section 3313 

10 of this title, during periods following a permanent 

11 school closure, except that payment of such a sti12 pend may only be continued until the earlier of— 

13 ‘‘(i) the date of the end of the term, quar14 ter, or semester during which the school closure 

15 occurred; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the date that is 4 months after the 

17 date of the school closure.’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph 

19 (1)(C)(ii) of such section, as redesignated, is amend20 ed by striking ‘‘described in subclause (A) of this 

21 clause’’ and inserting ‘‘described in clause (ii)’’. 

Æ 


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