I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7273 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a tiger team dedicated to addressing the difficulties encountered by the Department of 

Veterans Affairs in carrying out section 3313 of title 38, United States 

Code, after the enactment of sections 107 and 501 of the Harry W. 

Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 12, 2018 

Mr. BARR (for himself and Ms. GABBARD) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish 

a tiger team dedicated to addressing the difficulties encountered by the Department of Veterans Affairs in carrying out section 3313 of title 38, United States Code, 

after the enactment of sections 107 and 501 of the 

Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act 

of 2017. 

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 ‘‘Forever GI Bill Hous5 ing Payment Fulfillment Act of 2018’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 7273 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

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

3 (1) On August 16, 2017, the Harry W. Colmery 

4 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Pub5 lic Law 115–48) (known by some as the ‘‘Forever 

6 GI Bill’’) was enacted into law. 

7 (2) Such Act makes certain improvements to 

8 the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance program for 

9 veterans, including improvements relating to how the 

10 Secretary of Veterans Affairs calculates the amount 

11 of payments for monthly housing stipends under 

12 that program. 

13 (3) Section 107 of such Act (Public Law 115– 

14 48; 33 U.S.C. 3313 note) requires the Secretary to 

15 calculate the amount of payments for monthly hous16 ing stipends based on the location of the campus of 

17 the institution of higher learning where the indi18 vidual attends classes, a change from the previous 

19 direction to make such calculation based on the loca20 tion of the institution of higher learning. 

21 (4) Section 501 of such Act (Public Law 115– 

22 48; 37 U.S.C. 403 note) repeals the inapplicability 

23 of a modification of the basic allowance for housing 

24 for members of the uniformed services to benefits 

25 administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 7273 IH

1 (5) The amendments made by section 107 and 

2 501 of such Act became effective on August 1, 2018, 

3 and January 1, 2018, respectively. 

4 (6) Representatives of the Department of Vet5 erans Affairs have stated that the Department will 

6 not be able to determine proper payment amounts 

7 based on the amendment made by section 107 of 

8 such Act until December 1, 2019. 

9 (7) Representatives of the Department have 

10 also stated that outdated information technology 

11 systems have stymied efforts to update necessary in12 formation that enable proper housing payments as 

13 required by the provisions of law amended by sec14 tions 107 and 501 of such Act. 

15 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that— 

17 (1) as soon as possible, the Secretary of Vet18 erans Affairs should end the making of improper 

19 payment amounts for monthly stipends under sec20 tion 3313 of title 38, United States Code; 

21 (2) by January 1, 2020, the Secretary should 

22 make whole the individuals entitled to payments of 

23 monthly stipends under section 3313 of title 38, 

24 United States Code, who have been underpaid as a 

25 result of the difficulties encountered by the DepartVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7273.IH H7273

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 7273 IH

1 ment of Veterans Affairs in carrying out such sec2 tion after the enactment of sections 107 and 501 of 

3 the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assist4 ance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–48); and 

5 (3) no individuals entitled to payments of 

6 monthly stipend under section 3313 of title 38, 

7 United States Code, who have been overpaid as a re8 sult of the difficulties encountered by the Depart9 ment in carrying out such section after the enact10 ment of sections 107 and 501 of such Act should 

11 have overpayments recuperated by the Department. 

12 SEC. 3. TIGER TEAM FOR HOUSING STIPENDS. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one day after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

15 Veterans Affairs shall establish a tiger team (in this sec16 tion referred to as the ‘‘Tiger Team’’) dedicated to ad17 dressing the difficulties encountered by the Department 

18 of Veterans Affairs in carrying out section 3313 of title 

19 38, United States Code, after the enactment of sections 

20 107 and 501 of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Edu21 cational Assistance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–48; 38 

22 U.S.C. 3313 note and 37 U.S.C. 403 note). 

23 (b) COMPOSITION.—Not later than 15 days after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub25 mit to Congress the names and titles of the employees of 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 7273 IH

1 the Department who compose the Tiger Team established 

2 under subsection (a), including the name and title of the 

3 senior-level employee of the Department who serves as the 

4 lead accountable official of the Tiger Team. 

5 (c) DUTIES.— 

6 (1) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

7 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

8 the Tiger Team shall submit to Congress the fol9 lowing: 

10 (A) A plan describing the following: 

11 (i) How the Secretary will obtain the 

12 information necessary to determine the 

13 correct payment amounts for monthly sti14 pends under section 3313 of title 38, 

15 United States Code, made after the enact16 ment of sections 107 and 501 of the Harry 

17 W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assist18 ance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–48; 38 

19 U.S.C. 3313 note and 37 U.S.C. 403 

20 note), from officials responsible for the cer21 tification of payments of monthly stipends 

22 made under section 3313 of such title. 

23 (ii) How the Secretary will modify the 

24 relevant information technology systems of 

25 the Department to correct the payment 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 7273 IH

1 amounts for monthly stipends under sec2 tion 3313 of such title made after the en3 actment of sections 107 and 501 of such 

4 Act (Public Law 115–48; 38 U.S.C. 3313 

5 note and 37 U.S.C. 403 note) that were 

6 deficient. 

7 (iii) How the Secretary will identify 

8 all of the individuals who received pay9 ments of monthly stipends under section 

10 3313 of such title that were not in compli11 ance with such section, after the enactment 

12 of sections 107 and 501 of such Act (Pub13 lic Law 115–48; 38 U.S.C. 3313 note and 

14 37 U.S.C. 403 note). 

15 (iv) How the Secretary will notify the 

16 individuals described in clause (iii). 

17 (v) The procedures the Secretary will 

18 use to correct the payments of monthly sti19 pends under section 3313 of such title that 

20 were deficient as a result of the difficulties 

21 encountered by the Department of Vet22 erans Affairs in carrying out such section 

23 after the enactment of sections 107 and 

24 501 of such Act (Public Law 115–48; 38 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•HR 7273 IH

1 U.S.C. 3313 note and 37 U.S.C. 403 

2 note). 

3 (B) A complete timeline for the implemen4 tation of the plan described in subparagraph 

5 (A). 

6 (C) Any additional funding and personnel 

7 requirements necessary to support the imple8 mentation of the plan described in subpara9 graph (A), including any such requirements as 

10 may be necessary for staffing increases or rel11 evant improvements to the information tech12 nology infrastructure of the Department. 

13 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall im15 plement the plan submitted under paragraph 

16 (1)(A). 

17 (B) PERIODIC UPDATES.—Not less fre18 quently than once every 90 days after submis19 sion of the items under paragraph (1), the 

20 Tiger Team shall submit to Congress an update 

21 on the implementation of the plan described in 

22 subparagraph (A) of such paragraph. 

23 (3) FINAL REPORT.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than July 1, 

25 2020, the Tiger Team shall submit to the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7273.IH H7273

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•HR 7273 IH

1 propriate congressional committees a final re2 port on the activities and findings of the Tiger 

3 Team. 

4 (B) CONTENTS.—The report required by 

5 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

6 (i) The number of individuals who 

7 were affected by payments of monthly sti8 pends under section 3313 of title 38, 

9 United States Code, that were not in com10 pliance with such section after the enact11 ment of sections 107 and 501 of the Harry 

12 W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assist13 ance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–48; 38 

14 U.S.C. 3313 note and 37 U.S.C. 403 

15 note). 

16 (ii) The number of individuals de17 scribed in clause (i) who received deficient 

18 payments as a result of the difficulties en19 countered by the Department in carrying 

20 out section 3313 of such title after the en21 actment of sections 107 and 501 of such 

22 Act (Public Law 115–48; 38 U.S.C. 3313 

23 note and 37 U.S.C. 403 note), and the 

24 total amount of the deficiency for each in25 dividual, disaggregated by State. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•HR 7273 IH

1 (iii) The number of individuals de2 scribed in clause (ii) who have not received 

3 the amount of monthly stipend to which 

4 such individuals are entitled under section 

5 3313 of such title and an explanation of 

6 why such individuals have not received 

7 such amounts. 

8 (iv) A certification of whether the De9 partment is fully compliant with sections 

10 107 and 501 of such Act (Public Law 

11 115–48; 38 U.S.C. 3313 note and 37 

12 U.S.C. 403 note). 

13 (C) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM14 MITTEES DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the 

15 term ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ 

16 means the following: 

17 (i) The Subcommittee on Military 

18 Construction and Veterans Affairs, and 

19 Related Agencies of the Committee on Ap20 propriations and the Committee on Vet21 erans’ Affairs of the Senate. 

22 (ii) The Subcommittee on Military 

23 Construction and Veterans Affairs, and 

24 Related Agencies of the Committee on Ap25 propriations and the Committee on VetVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7273.IH H7273

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10 

•HR 7273 IH

1 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representa2 tives. 

3 (d) TERMINATION.—On the date that is 60 days after 

4 the date on which the Tiger Team submits the final report 

5 required by subsection (c)(3), the Secretary shall termi6 nate the Tiger Team established under subsection (a). 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS