I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5229 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to remove certain limitations on 
the transfer of entitlement to basic educational assistance under the 
Montgomery GI Bill, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 6, 2008 
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland (for himself, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mrs. 
GILLIBRAND, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. CARTER, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. 
LOBIONDO, Mr. BISHOP
of Utah, Mr. MILLER
of Florida, Mr. 
CUMMINGS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. UDALL of Colo-
rado, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. KIRK, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KUHL of New York, Mr. WYNN, Mr. MEEK 
of Florida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. FOXX, Ms. GIFFORDS, Ms. SHEA- 
PORTER, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON 
of Texas, Mr. GILCHREST, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. JONES 
of North Carolina, Mr. HILL, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. 
NEUGEBAUER, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. TIBERI, 
Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. WOLF, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. PAUL, Mr. GOODE, and 
Mr. SAXTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Vet-
erans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to remove certain 
limitations on the transfer of entitlement to basic edu-
cational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill, and 
for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Montgomery GI Bill 
Educational Assistance Transferability Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFER 
OF ENTITLEMENT TO BASIC EDUCATIONAL 
ASSISTANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3020 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘: members 
of the Armed Forces with critical military 
skills’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘with critical military skills 
and at such Secretary’s sole discretion’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘, subject to the limitation 
under subsection (d)’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking the semi-
colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
(B) by striking paragraph (2); and 
(C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
paragraph (2); 
(4) by striking subsection (d); and 
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(5) by redesignating subsections (e) through 
(m) as subsections (d) through (l), respectively. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is 
further amended— 
(1) in subsection (g)(2), as redesignated by sub-
section (a)(5) of this section, by striking ‘‘under sub-
section (e)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘under subsection 
(d)(2)’’; 
(2) in subsection (h)(2), as redesignated by 
subsection (a)(5) of this section, by striking ‘‘under 
subsection (b)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘under subsection 
(b)(2)’’; and 
(3) in subsection (j), as redesignated by sub-
section (a)(5) of this section— 
(A) by striking ‘‘under subsection (f)(2)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘under subsection (e)(2)’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘in subsection (h)(5)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘in subsection (g)(5)’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 30 of such title is amended 
by amending the item relating to section 3020 to read as 
follows: 
‘‘3020. Transfer of entitlement to basic educational assistance.’’. 
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SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF ENTITLEMENT TO EDUCATIONAL AS-
SISTANCE 
UNDER 
THE 
RESERVE 
MONT-
GOMERY GI BILL. 
(a) SELECTED RESERVE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1606 of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 16138. Transfer of entitlement to educational as-
sistance 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An individual described in sub-
section (b) who is entitled to educational assistance under 
this chapter may elect to transfer to one or more of the 
dependents specified in subsection (c) a portion of such 
individual’s entitlement to such assistance. An individual 
transferring entitlement under this section shall submit 
written notice to the Secretary concerned not later than 
the expiration date of the period described in section 
16133 of this title that is applicable to such individual. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE
INDIVIDUALS.—An individual re-
ferred to in subsection (a) is any member of the armed 
forces who, at the time of the approval by the Secretary 
concerned of the member’s request to transfer entitlement 
to basic educational assistance under this section— 
‘‘(1) has completed six years of service in the 
Selected Reserve; and 
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‘‘(2) enters into an agreement to remain a 
member of the Selected Reserve for a period of not 
less than four years. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE DEPENDENTS.—An individual may 
transfer entitlement under this section as follows: 
‘‘(1) To the individual’s spouse. 
‘‘(2) To one or more of the individual’s chil-
dren. 
‘‘(3) To a combination of the individuals re-
ferred to in paragraphs (1) and (2). 
‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF TRANSFEREE.—An individual 
transferring entitlement under this section shall— 
‘‘(1) designate the dependent or dependents to 
whom such entitlement is being transferred; 
‘‘(2) designate the number of months of such 
entitlement to be transferred to each such depend-
ent; and 
‘‘(3) specify the period for which the transfer 
shall be effective for each such dependent. 
‘‘(e) REVOCATION
AND MODIFICATION.—An indi-
vidual transferring entitlement under this section may 
modify or revoke at any time the transfer of any unused 
portion of the entitlement so transferred. The modification 
or revocation of the transfer of entitlement under this sub-
section shall be made by the submittal of written notice 
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of the action to both the Secretary concerned and the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs. 
‘‘(f) COMMENCEMENT OF USE.—If the dependent to 
whom entitlement is transferred under this section is a 
child, the use of the transferred entitlement may not com-
mence until the child— 
‘‘(1) completes the requirements of a secondary 
school diploma (or equivalency certificate); or 
‘‘(2) attains 18 years of age. 
‘‘(g) TIME LIMITATION FOR USE OF ELIGIBILITY 
AND ENTITLEMENT.—Notwithstanding section 16133 of 
this title, and subject to subsection (d)(3), a dependent 
to whom entitlement is transferred under this section may 
use such entitlement until the later of— 
‘‘(1) the expiration date of a 15-year period be-
ginning on the date on which the individual who 
transferred such entitlement to the dependent be-
comes entitled to such assistance; and 
‘‘(2) the date that is 10 years after the date the 
individual who transferred such entitlement to the 
dependent is separated from the Selected Reserve. 
‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.— 
‘‘(1) USE
OF
ENTITLEMENT
CHARGED
TO 
TRANSFERRING INDIVIDUAL.—The use of any enti-
tlement transferred under this section shall be 
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charged against the entitlement of the individual 
making the transfer at the rate of one month for 
each month of transferred entitlement that is used. 
‘‘(2) ENTITLEMENT
TO
ASSISTANCE.—Except 
as provided under paragraphs (2) and (3) of sub-
section (d) and subsection (g), and subject to para-
graph (5), a dependent to whom entitlement is 
transferred under this section is entitled to edu-
cational assistance under this chapter in the same 
manner as the individual from whom entitlement 
was transferred. 
‘‘(3) MONTHLY RATE OF EDUCATION ASSIST-
ANCE PAYABLE.—The monthly rate of educational 
assistance payable to a dependent to whom entitle-
ment is transferred under this section shall be the 
monthly amount payable under section 16131 of this 
title to the individual making the transfer. 
‘‘(4) USE OF TRANSFERRED ENTITLEMENT NOT 
AFFECTED BY DEATH OF TRANSFEROR.—The death 
of an individual transferring entitlement under this 
section shall not affect the use of the transferred en-
titlement by the dependent to whom entitlement is 
transferred. 
‘‘(5) AGE LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding sub-
section (g) and section 16133 of this title, a child to 
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whom entitlement is transferred under this section 
may not use any entitlement so transferred after at-
taining the age of 26 years. 
‘‘(6) TRANSFERABILITY TO NON-CHILD OF EN-
TITLEMENT FOR PURPOSE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL 
DIPLOMA.—Except as provided in subsection (f), the 
purposes for which a dependent to whom entitlement 
is transferred under this section may use such enti-
tlement shall include the pursuit and completion of 
the requirements of a secondary school diploma (or 
equivalency certificate). 
‘‘(i) OVERPAYMENT.—In the event of an overpayment 
of basic educational assistance with respect to a dependent 
to whom entitlement is transferred under this section, the 
dependent and the individual making the transfer shall be 
jointly and severally liable to the United States for the 
amount of the overpayment for purposes of section 3685 
of title 38. 
‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—The Secretaries concerned shall 
prescribe regulations for purposes of this section. 
‘‘(k) SECRETARY CONCERNED DEFINED.—Notwith-
standing section 101(a)(9) of this title, in this section the 
term ‘Secretary concerned’ means— 
‘‘(1) the Secretary of the Army with respect to 
matters concerning the Army; 
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‘‘(2) the Secretary of the Navy with respect to 
matters concerning the Navy or the Marine Corps; 
‘‘(3) the Secretary of the Air Force with respect 
to matters concerning the Air Force; and 
‘‘(4) the Secretary of Defense with respect to 
matters concerning the Coast Guard, or the Sec-
retary of Homeland Security when it is not oper-
ating as a service in the Navy.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 
by adding at the end the following new item: 
‘‘16138. Transfer of entitlement to educational assistance.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) TIME
LIMITATION.—Section 16133(a) of 
such title is amended by inserting ‘‘and section 
16138 of this title’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)’’. 
(2) BIENNIAL REPORT.—Section 16137 of such 
title is amended by inserting after the second sen-
tence the following: ‘‘Each such report shall also in-
clude the number of members of the Selected Re-
serve of the Ready Reserve of each armed force 
transferring entitlement to educational assistance 
under section 16138.’’. 
Æ 
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