I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2550 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the transfer of entitlement to educational assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs by deceased members of the Armed Forces. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 15, 2011 

Mr. BOREN (for himself and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the 

transfer of entitlement to educational assistance under 

the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs by deceased members 

of the Armed Forces. 

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 ‘‘Spouses of Fallen He5 roes Scholarship Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF ENTITLEMENT TO EDUCATIONAL AS2 SISTANCE UNDER THE POST-9/11 EDU3 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM OF THE 

4 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS BY DE5 CEASED MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3319 of title 38, United 

7 States Code, is amended by— 

8 (1) redesignating subsection (j) as subsection 

9 (k); and 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol11 lowing new subsection (j): 

12 ‘‘(j) TRANSFER OF ENTITLEMENT BY DECEASED

13 MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub15 sections (b), (e) and (f), in the case of the death of 

16 any member of the Armed Forces who is entitled to 

17 educational assistance under this chapter while the 

18 member is serving on active duty, the member’s enti19 tlement to educational assistance under this chapter 

20 shall be transferred under this section to the mem21 ber’s surviving spouse, unless the member has des22 ignated another eligible dependent. 

23 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF ENTITLEMENT FOR

24 TRANSFER.—The maximum amount of entitlement 

25 that may be transferred under this section is the 

26 amount to which the deceased member of the Armed 


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1 Forces was actually entitled on the date of the mem2 ber’s death. 

3 ‘‘(3) ELECTION.—A surviving spouse to whom 

4 educational assistance is transferred under this sec5 tion who is also entitled to educational assistance 

6 under chapter 35 of this title may not receive assist7 ance under both such chapter and this section, but 

8 shall make an irrevocable election (in such form and 

9 manner as the Secretary may prescribe) under which 

10 chapter or section to receive educational assistance. 

11 ‘‘(4) SURVIVING SPOUSE DEFINED.—For pur12 poses of this subsection, the term ‘surviving spouse’ 

13 means a person of the opposite sex who was the 

14 spouse of a member of the Armed Forces at the time 

15 of the member’s death, and who lived with the mem16 ber continuously from the date of marriage to the 

17 date of the member’s death (except where there was 

18 a separation which was due to the misconduct of, or 

19 procured by, the member without the fault of the 

20 spouse) regardless of remarriage.’’. 

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.— 

22 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

23 by this section shall take effect on August 1, 2009. 

24 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The Secretary of Vet25 erans Affairs shall begin making payments to indiVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:46 Jul 15, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2550.IH H2550

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1 viduals to whom entitlement to educational assist2 ance is transferred by reason of subsection (j) of 

3 section 3319 of title 38, United States Code, as 

4 added by subsection (a), by not later than August 1, 

5 2011. In the case of an individual who is entitled to 

6 educational assistance for the period beginning on 

7 August 1, 2009, and ending on July 31, 2011, by 

8 reason of such a transfer and who was enrolled for 

9 any part of such period in an approved program of 

10 education, the Secretary shall make retroactive pay11 ments to such individual for such period by not later 

12 than August 1, 2011. 

Æ 


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