I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1216 
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 
FEBRUARY 24, 2017 
Mr. MESSER (for himself, Mr. BANKS of Indiana, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. 
BUCSHON, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 
BARLETTA, Mr. DESANTIS, and Mr. LAMALFA) 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Veterans 
From School Closures Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF ENTITLEMENT TO POST-9/11 EDU-
CATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR VETERANS AF-
FECTED BY CLOSURES OF EDUCATIONAL IN-
STITUTIONS. 
(1) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 3312 
of title 38, United States Code, is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) DISCONTINUATION
OF EDUCATION DUE
TO 
CLOSURE OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Any payment of edu-
cational assistance described in paragraph (2) shall 
not— 
‘‘(A) be charged against any entitlement to 
educational assistance of the individual con-
cerned under this chapter; or 
‘‘(B) be counted against the aggregate pe-
riod for which section 3695 of this title limits 
the individual’s receipt of educational assistance 
under this chapter. 
‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION
OF
PAYMENT
OF
EDU-
CATIONAL ASSISTANCE.—Subject to paragraph (3), 
the payment of educational assistance described in 
this paragraph is the payment of such assistance to 
an individual for pursuit of a course or courses 
under this chapter if the Secretary finds that the in-
dividual— 
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‘‘(A) was forced to discontinue such course 
of study pursuit as a result of a permanent or 
temporary closure of an educational institution; 
or 
‘‘(B) did not receive credit, or lost training 
time, toward completion of the program of edu-
cation being pursued at the time of such clo-
sure. 
‘‘(3) PERIOD
FOR
WHICH
PAYMENT
NOT 
CHARGED.—The period for which, by reason of this 
subsection, educational assistance is not charged 
against entitlement or counted toward the applicable 
aggregate period under section 3695 of this title 
shall not exceed the aggregate period permitted 
under such section.’’. 
(2) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (d) of such 
section, as added by paragraph (1), shall apply with 
respect to courses and programs of education discon-
tinued as described in paragraph (2) of such sub-
section after August 1, 2016. 
Æ 
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