I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4361 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand and enhance educational 
assistance for survivors and dependents of veterans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 17, 2005 
Mr. RAMSTAD (for himself and Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi) 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 en-
hance educational assistance for survivors and depend-
ents of veterans. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. EXPANSION AND ENHANCEMENT OF EDU-
CATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR SURVIVORS AND 
DEPENDENTS OF VETERANS. 
(a) TERMINATION OF DURATIONAL LIMITATION ON 
USE OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) TERMINATION
OF
LIMITATION
AND
RE-
STATEMENT OF CONTINUING REQUIREMENTS.—Sub-
section (a) of section 3511 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
chapter or chapter 36 of this title, any payment of edu-
cational assistance described in paragraph (2) shall not 
be charged against the entitlement of any individual under 
this chapter. 
‘‘(2) The payment of educational assistance referred 
to in paragraph (1) 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 individual— 
‘‘(A) had to discontinue such course pursuit as 
a result of being ordered to serve on active duty 
under section 688, 12301(a), 12301(d), 12301(g), 
12302, or 12304 of title 10; and 
‘‘(B) failed to receive credit or training time to-
ward completion of the individual’s approved edu-
cational, professional, or vocational objective as a re-
sult of having to discontinue, as described in sub-
paragraph (A), the course pursuit.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—(A) 
The 
heading of section 3511 of such title is amended to 
read as follows:
‘‘§ 3511. Treatment of certain interruptions in pursuit 
of programs of education’’. 
(B) Section 3532(g) of such title is amended— 
(i) by striking paragraph (2); and 
(ii) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
paragraph (2). 
(C) Section 3541 of such title is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘§ 3541. Special restorative training 
‘‘(a) The Secretary may, at the request of an eligible 
person— 
‘‘(1) determine whether such person is in need 
of special restorative training; and 
‘‘(2) if such need is found to exist, prescribe a 
course which is suitable to accomplish the purposes 
of this chapter. 
‘‘(b) A course of special restorative training under 
subsection (a) may, at the discretion of the Secretary, con-
tain elements that would contribute toward an ultimate 
objective of a program of education.’’. 
(D) Section 3695(a)(4) of such title is amended 
by striking ‘‘35,’’. 
(b) EXTENSION OF DELIMITING AGE OF ELIGIBILITY 
FOR DEPENDENTS.—Section 3512(a) of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘twenty-sixth birth-
day’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘thirtieth birth-
day’’. 
(c) AMOUNT OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 3532 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 3532. Amount of educational assistance 
‘‘(a) The aggregate amount of educational assistance 
to which an eligible person is entitled under this chapter 
is $80,000, as increased from time to time under section 
3564 of this title. 
‘‘(b) Within the aggregate amount provided for in 
subsection (a), educational assistance under this chapter 
may be paid for any purpose, and in any amount, as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(1) A program of education consisting of insti-
tutional courses. 
‘‘(2) A full-time program of education that con-
sists of institutional courses and alternate phases of 
training in a business or industrial establishment 
with the training in the business or industrial estab-
lishment being strictly supplemental to the institu-
tional portion. 
‘‘(3) A farm cooperative program consisting of 
institutional agricultural courses prescheduled to fall 
within forty-four weeks of any period of twelve con-
secutive months that is pursued by an eligible person 
who is concurrently engaged in agricultural employ-
ment which is relevant to such institutional agricul-
tural courses as determined under standards pre-
scribed by the Secretary. 
‘‘(4) A course or courses or other program of 
special educational assistance as provided in section 
3491(a) of this title. 
‘‘(5) A program of apprenticeship or other on- 
job training pursued in a State as provided in sec-
tion 3687(a) of this title. 
‘‘(6) In the case of an eligible spouse or sur-
viving spouse, a program of education exclusively by 
correspondence as provided in section 3686 of this 
title. 
‘‘(7) A special training allowance for special re-
storative training as provided in section 3542 of this 
title. 
‘‘(c) If a program of education is pursued by an eligi-
ble person at an institution located in the Republic of the 
Philippines, any educational assistance for such person 
under this chapter shall be paid at the rate of $0.50 for 
each dollar. 
‘‘(d)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the amount of edu-
cational assistance payable under this chapter for a licens-
ing or certification test described in section 3501(a)(5) of 
this title is the lesser of $2,000 or the fee charged for 
the test. 
‘‘(2) In no event shall payment of educational assist-
ance under this subsection for such a test exceed the 
amount of the individual’s available entitlement under this 
chapter.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(A) Section 
3533 of such title is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 3533. Tutorial assistance 
‘‘An eligible person shall, without any charge to any 
entitlement of such person to educational assistance under 
section 3532(a) of this title be entitled to the benefits pro-
vided an eligible veteran under section 3492 of this title.’’. 
(B) Section 3534 of such title is repealed. 
(C) Section 3542 of such title is amended— 
(i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘com-
puted at the basic rate’’ and all that follows 
through the end of the subsection and inserting 
a period; and 
(ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘an edu-
cational assistance allowance’’ and inserting 
‘‘educational assistance’’. 
(D) Section 3543(c) of such title is amended—
(i) in paragraph (1), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(ii) by striking paragraph (2); and 
(iii) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
paragraph (2). 
(E) Section 3564 of such title is amended by 
striking ‘‘rates payable under sections 3532, 
3534(b), and 3542(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘aggregate 
amount of educational assistance payable under sec-
tion 3532’’. 
(F) Paragraph (1) of section 3565(b) of such 
title is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) educational assistance payable under sec-
tion 3532 of this title, including the special training 
allowance referred to in subsection (b)(7) of such 
section, shall be paid at the rate of $0.50 for each 
dollar; and’’. 
(G) Section 3687 of such title is amended— 
(i) in subsection (a)— 
(I) in the matter preceding paragraph 
(1), by striking ‘‘or an eligible person (as 
defined in section 3501(a) of this title)’’; 
and
(II) in the flush matter following 
paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘chapters 34 
and 35’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter 34’’; 
(ii) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘chapters 
34 and 35’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter 34’’; and 
(iii) in subsection (e), by striking para-
graph (3) and inserting the following new para-
graph (3): 
‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘individual’ 
means an eligible veteran who is entitled to monthly 
educational assistance allowances payable under sec-
tion 3015(e) of this title.’’. 
(d) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Sec-
tion 3524 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ‘‘allowance’’ each place it appears. 
(2)(A) Section 3531 of such title is amended— 
(i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘an edu-
cational assistance allowance’’ and inserting ‘‘edu-
cational assistance’’; and 
(ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘allowance’’. 
(B) The heading of such section is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘allowance’’. 
(3) Section 3537(a) of such title is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘additional’’.
(e) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 35 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking the item relating to section 3511 
and inserting the following new item: 
‘‘3511. Treatment of certain interruptions in pursuit of programs of edu-
cation.’’; 
(2) by striking the items relating to section 
3531, 3532, and 3533 and inserting the following 
new items: 
‘‘3531. Educational assistance. 
‘‘3532. Amount of educational assistance. 
‘‘3533. Tutorial assistance.’’; 
(3) by striking the item relating to section 
3534; and 
(4) by striking the item relating to section 3541 
and inserting the following new item: 
‘‘3541. Special restorative training.’’. 
(f) EFFECTIVE DATES.—(1) The amendments made 
by this section shall take effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
(2) Notwithstanding the effective date under para-
graph (1) of the amendment to section 3564 of title 38, 
United States Code, made by subsection (c)(2)(E), the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall make the first increase 
in the aggregate amount of educational assistance under
section 3532 of such title as required by such section 3564 
(as so amended) for fiscal year 2006. 
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