II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1851 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide Federal Pell Grants 

to Iraq and Afghanistan veteran’s dependents. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. SCOTT of 

South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

Federal Pell Grants to Iraq and Afghanistan veteran’s 

dependents. 

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 ‘‘Protecting Our Gold 

5 Star Families’ Education Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROVIDING FEDERAL PELL GRANTS FOR IRAQ AND 

2 AFGHANISTAN VETERAN’S DEPENDENTS. 

3 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Part A of title IV of the Higher 

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in section 401, by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(k) GRANTS FOR VETERAN’S DEPENDENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE VETERAN’S DE10 PENDENT.—In this subsection, the term ‘eligible vet11 eran’s dependent’ means a dependent or an inde12 pendent student— 

13 ‘‘(A) whose parent or guardian was an in14 dividual who, on or after September 11, 2001, 

15 died in line of duty while serving on active duty 

16 as a member of the Armed Forces; and 

17 ‘‘(B) who is less than 33 years of age. 

18 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

20 award a Federal Pell Grant, as modified in ac21 cordance with the requirements of this sub22 section, to each eligible veteran’s dependent to 

23 assist in paying the eligible veteran’s depend24 ent’s cost of attendance at an institution of 

25 higher education. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION.—Federal Pell Grants 

2 made under this subsection may be known as 

3 ‘Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants’. 

4 ‘‘(3) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No 

5 eligible veteran’s dependent may receive a grant 

6 under both this subsection and subsection (a) for the 

7 same award year. 

8 ‘‘(4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

10 award Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants 

11 under this subsection in the same manner and 

12 with the same terms and conditions, including 

13 the length of the period of eligibility, as the 

14 Secretary awards Federal Pell Grants under 

15 subsection (a), except as otherwise provided in 

16 subparagraph (B). 

17 ‘‘(B) DIFFERENT TERMS AND CONDI18 TIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(i) AMOUNT.—An Iraq and Afghani20 stan Service Grant awarded under this 

21 subsection for an award year shall equal 

22 the maximum Federal Pell Grant available 

23 for that award year, except that such Iraq 

24 and Afghanistan Service Grant— 


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1 ‘‘(I) shall not exceed the cost of 

2 attendance of the eligible veteran’s de3 pendent for that award year; and 

4 ‘‘(II) shall be adjusted to reflect 

5 the attendance by the eligible vet6 eran’s dependent on a less than full7 time basis in the same manner as 

8 such adjustments are made for a Fed9 eral Pell Grant under subsection (a). 

10 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATIONS OF NEED.— 

11 The award rules and determination of need 

12 applicable to the calculation of Federal 

13 Pell Grants under subsection (a) shall not 

14 apply to Iraq and Afghanistan Service 

15 Grants. 

16 ‘‘(iii) MAXIMUM PERIOD.—The max17 imum period determined under subsection 

18 (c)(5) shall be determined by including all 

19 Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants re20 ceived by the eligible veteran’s dependent, 

21 including such Grants received under sub22 part 10 before the effective date of this 

23 subsection. 

24 ‘‘(5) ESTIMATED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—For 

25 purposes of determinations of need under part F, an 


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1 Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant shall not be 

2 treated as estimated financial assistance as de3 scribed in sections 471(3) and 480(j).’’; and 

4 (2) by striking subpart 10. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION.— 

6 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

7 by this section shall take effect with respect to the 

8 award year immediately following the date of enact9 ment of this Act. 

10 (2) TRANSITION.—The Secretary shall take 

11 such steps as are necessary to transition from the 

12 Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants program under 

13 subpart 10 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070h), as in effect 

15 on the day before the effective date of this section, 

16 and the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants pro17 gram under section 401(k) of the Higher Education 

18 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(k)), as amended by 

19 this section. 

Æ 


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