I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1214 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand and enhance educational 

assistance for survivors and dependents of veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2007 

Mr. RAMSTAD (for himself and Mr. TAYLOR) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand and enhance educational assistance for survivors and dependents of veterans. 

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’ Survivors 

5 Education Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANSION AND ENHANCEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL 

7 ASSISTANCE FOR SURVIVORS AND DEPEND8 ENTS OF VETERANS. 

9 (a) TERMINATION OF DURATIONAL LIMITATION ON

10 USE OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
2 

•HR 1214 IH

1 (1) TERMINATION OF LIMITATION AND RE2 STATEMENT OF CONTINUING REQUIREMENTS.—Sub3 section (a) of section 3511 of title 38, United States 

4 Code, is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

6 chapter or chapter 36 of this title, any payment of edu7 cational assistance described in paragraph (2) shall not 

8 be charged against the entitlement of any individual under 

9 this chapter. 

10 ‘‘(2) The payment of educational assistance referred 

11 to in paragraph (1) is the payment of such assistance to 

12 an individual for pursuit of a course or courses under this 

13 chapter if the Secretary finds that the individual— 

14 ‘‘(A) had to discontinue such course pursuit as 

15 a result of being ordered to serve on active duty 

16 under section 688, 12301(a), 12301(d), 12301(g), 

17 12302, or 12304 of title 10; and 

18 ‘‘(B) failed to receive credit or training time to19 ward completion of the individual’s approved edu20 cational, professional, or vocational objective as a re21 sult of having to discontinue, as described in sub22 paragraph (A), the course pursuit.’’. 

23 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(A) The 

24 heading of section 3511 of such title is amended to 

25 read as follows: 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
3 

•HR 1214 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 3511. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN INTERRUPTIONS IN 

2 PURSUIT OF PROGRAMS OF EDUCATION.’’. 

3 (B) Section 3532(g) of such title is amend4 ed— 

5 (i) by striking paragraph (2); and 

6 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

7 paragraph (2). 

8 (C) Section 3541 of such title is amended 

9 to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 3541. SPECIAL RESTORATIVE TRAINING. 

11 ‘‘(a) The Secretary may, at the request of an eligible 

12 person— 

13 ‘‘(1) determine whether such person is in need 

14 of special restorative training; and 

15 ‘‘(2) if such need is found to exist, prescribe a 

16 course which is suitable to accomplish the purposes 

17 of this chapter. 

18 ‘‘(b) A course of special restorative training under 

19 subsection (a) may, at the discretion of the Secretary, con20 tain elements that would contribute toward an ultimate 

21 objective of a program of education.’’. 

22 (D) Section 3695(a)(4) of such title is 

23 amended by striking ‘‘35,’’. 

24 (b) EXTENSION OF DELIMITING AGE OF ELIGIBILITY

25 FOR DEPENDENTS.—Section 3512(a) of title 38, United 

26 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘twenty-sixth birthVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:54 Mar 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1214.IH H1214

hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
4 

•HR 1214 IH

1 day’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘thirtieth birth2 day’’. 

3 (c) AMOUNT OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3532 of title 38, 

5 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 3532. AMOUNT OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE. 

7 ‘‘(a) The aggregate amount of educational assistance 

8 to which an eligible person is entitled under this chapter 

9 is $80,000, as increased from time to time under section 

10 3564 of this title. 

11 ‘‘(b) Within the aggregate amount provided for in 

12 subsection (a), educational assistance under this chapter 

13 may be paid for any purpose, and in any amount, as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(1) A program of education consisting of insti16 tutional courses. 

17 ‘‘(2) A full-time program of education that con18 sists of institutional courses and alternate phases of 

19 training in a business or industrial establishment 

20 with the training in the business or industrial estab21 lishment being strictly supplemental to the institu22 tional portion. 

23 ‘‘(3) A farm cooperative program consisting of 

24 institutional agricultural courses prescheduled to fall 

25 within forty-four weeks of any period of twelve conVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:54 Mar 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1214.IH H1214

hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
5 

•HR 1214 IH

1 secutive months that is pursued by an eligible person 

2 who is concurrently engaged in agricultural employ3 ment which is relevant to such institutional agricul4 tural courses as determined under standards pre5 scribed by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(4) A course or courses or other program of 

7 special educational assistance as provided in section 

8 3491(a) of this title. 

9 ‘‘(5) A program of apprenticeship or other on10 job training pursued in a State as provided in sec11 tion 3687(a) of this title. 

12 ‘‘(6) In the case of an eligible spouse or sur13 viving spouse, a program of education exclusively by 

14 correspondence as provided in section 3686 of this 

15 title. 

16 ‘‘(7) A special training allowance for special re17 storative training as provided in section 3542 of this 

18 title. 

19 ‘‘(c) If a program of education is pursued by an eligi20 ble person at an institution located in the Republic of the 

21 Philippines, any educational assistance for such person 

22 under this chapter shall be paid at the rate of $0.50 for 

23 each dollar. 

24 ‘‘(d)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the amount of edu25 cational assistance payable under this chapter for a licensVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:54 Mar 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1214.IH H1214

hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
6 

•HR 1214 IH

1 ing or certification test described in section 3501(a)(5) of 

2 this title is the lesser of $2,000 or the fee charged for 

3 the test. 

4 ‘‘(2) In no event shall payment of educational assist5 ance under this subsection for such a test exceed the 

6 amount of the individual’s available entitlement under this 

7 chapter.’’. 

8 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(A) Section 

9 3533 of such title is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 3533. TUTORIAL ASSISTANCE. 

11 ‘‘An eligible person shall, without any charge to any 

12 entitlement of such person to educational assistance under 

13 section 3532(a) of this title, be entitled to the benefits pro14 vided an eligible veteran under section 3492 of this title.’’. 

15 (B) Section 3534 of such title is repealed. 

16 (C) Section 3542 of such title is amended— 

17 (i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘com18 puted at the basic rate’’ and all that follows 

19 through the end of the subsection and inserting 

20 a period; and 

21 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘an edu22 cational assistance allowance’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘educational assistance’’. 

24 (D) Section 3543(c) of such title is amended— 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
7 

•HR 1214 IH

1 (i) in paragraph (1), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (ii) by striking paragraph (2); and 

4 (iii) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

5 paragraph (2). 

6 (E) Section 3564 of such title is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘rates payable under sections 3532, 

8 3534(b), and 3542(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘aggregate 

9 amount of educational assistance payable under sec10 tion 3532’’. 

11 (F) Paragraph (1) of section 3565(b) of such 

12 title is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(1) educational assistance payable under sec14 tion 3532 of this title, including the special training 

15 allowance referred to in subsection (b)(7) of such 

16 section, shall be paid at the rate of $0.50 for each 

17 dollar; and’’. 

18 (G) Section 3687 of such title is amended— 

19 (i) in subsection (a)— 

20 (I) in the matter preceding paragraph 

21 (1), by striking ‘‘or an eligible person (as 

22 defined in section 3501(a) of this title)’’; 

23 and 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
8 

•HR 1214 IH

1 (II) in the flush matter following 

2 paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘chapters 34 

3 and 35’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter 34’’; 

4 (ii) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘chapters 

5 34 and 35’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter 34’’; and 

6 (iii) in subsection (e), by striking para7 graph (3) and inserting the following new para8 graph (3): 

9 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘individual’ 

10 means an eligible veteran who is entitled to monthly 

11 educational assistance allowances payable under sec12 tion 3015(e) of this title.’’. 

13 (d) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Sec14 tion 3524 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 

15 striking ‘‘allowance’’ each place it appears. 

16 (2)(A) Section 3531 of such title is amended— 

17 (i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘an edu18 cational assistance allowance’’ and inserting ‘‘edu19 cational assistance’’; and 

20 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘allowance’’. 

21 (B) The heading of such section is amended by strik22 ing ‘‘allowance’’. 

23 (3) Section 3537(a) of such title is amended by strik24 ing ‘‘additional’’. 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
9 

•HR 1214 IH

1 (e) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 

2 at the beginning of chapter 35 of title 38, United States 

3 Code, is amended— 

4 (1) by striking the item relating to section 3511 

5 and inserting the following new item: 

‘‘3511. Treatment of certain interruptions in pursuit of programs of education.’’; 

6 (2) by striking the items relating to sections 

7 3531, 3532, and 3533 and inserting the following 

8 new items: 

‘‘3531. Educational assistance. 

‘‘3532. Amount of educational assistance. 

‘‘3533. Tutorial assistance.’’; 

9 (3) by striking the item relating to section 

10 3534; and 

11 (4) by striking the item relating to section 3541 

12 and inserting the following new item: 

‘‘3541. Special restorative training.’’. 

13 (f) EFFECTIVE DATES.—(1) The amendments made 

14 by this section shall take effect on the date of the enact15 ment of this Act. 

16 (2) Notwithstanding the effective date under para17 graph (1) of the amendment to section 3564 of title 38, 

18 United States Code, made by subsection (c)(2)(E), the 

19 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall make the first increase 

20 in the aggregate amount of educational assistance under 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
10 

•HR 1214 IH

1 section 3532 of such title as required by such section 3564 

2 (as so amended) for fiscal year 2006. 

Æ 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS