I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5257 
To provide that members of the Armed Forces and Selected Reserve may 
transfer certain educational assistance benefits to dependents, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 7, 2004 
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 
on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide that members of the Armed Forces and Selected 
Reserve may transfer certain educational assistance bene-
fits to dependents, 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 ‘‘Servicemembers’ Flexi-
ble Educational Assistance Act’’.
SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF ENTITLEMENT TO BASIC EDU-
CATIONAL ASSISTANCE. 
(a) ALL-VOLUNTEER FORCE EDUCATIONAL ASSIST-
ANCE PROGRAM.—Chapter 30 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) in the table of contents by striking the item 
relating to section 3020 and inserting the following: 
‘‘3020. Transfer of entitlement to basic educational assistance.’’; 
(2) in section 3018— 
(A) in subsection (c) by inserting ‘‘or (e)’’ 
after ‘‘subsection (b)(1)’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(e) An individual who made an election under sec-
tion 3011(c)(1) or 3012(d)(1) may withdraw such election 
not later than one year after the date of enactment of this 
subsection if— 
‘‘(1) the period described in section 3031 that 
is applicable to such individual has not expired; and 
‘‘(2) such individual elects to transfer entitle-
ment to educational assistance under section 3020.’’; 
(3) by amending section 3020 to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘§ 3020. Transfer of entitlement to basic educational 
assistance 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is entitled to 
basic educational assistance under this subchapter may 
elect to transfer to one or more of the dependents specified 
in subsection (b) a portion of such individual’s entitlement 
to such assistance. An individual transferring entitlement 
under this section shall submit written notice to the Sec-
retary concerned not later than the expiration date of the 
period described in section 3031 that is applicable to such 
individual. 
‘‘(b) 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). 
‘‘(c) 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. 
‘‘(d) 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 
of the action to both the Secretary concerned and the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs. 
‘‘(e) 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. 
‘‘(f) TIME LIMITATION FOR USE OF ELIGIBILITY 
AND ENTITLEMENT.—Notwithstanding section 3031, and 
subject to subsection (c)(3), a dependent to whom entitle-
ment is transferred under this section may use such enti-
tlement not later than the expiration date of a 20-year 
period beginning on the commencement date of the period 
described in section 3031 that is applicable to the indi-
vidual who transferred such entitlement to the dependent.
‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.—(1) 
The use of any entitlement transferred under this section 
shall be 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) Except as provided under subsections (c)(2) and 
(3) and (f), and subject to paragraph (5) of this sub-
section, a dependent to whom entitlement is transferred 
under this section is entitled to basic educational assist-
ance under this subchapter in the same manner as the 
individual from whom entitlement was transferred. 
‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the monthly 
rate of educational assistance payable to a dependent to 
whom entitlement is transferred under this section shall 
be the monthly amount payable under sections 3015 and 
3022 to the individual making the transfer. 
‘‘(B) The monthly rate of assistance payable to a de-
pendent under subparagraph (A) shall be subject to the 
provisions of section 3032, except that the provisions of 
subsection (a)(1) of that section shall not apply even if 
the individual making the transfer to the dependent under 
this section is on active duty during all or any part of 
enrollment period of the dependent in which such entitle-
ment is used.
‘‘(4) The death of an individual transferring entitle-
ment under this section shall not affect the use of the 
transferred entitlement by the dependent to whom entitle-
ment is transferred. 
‘‘(5) Notwithstanding subsection (f) and section 
3031, a child to whom entitlement is transferred under 
this section may not use any entitlement so transferred 
after attaining the age of 26 years. 
‘‘(6) Except as provided in subsection (e), the pur-
poses for which a dependent to whom entitlement is trans-
ferred under this section may use such entitlement shall 
include the pursuit and completion of the requirements of 
a secondary school diploma (or equivalency certificate). 
‘‘(h) OVERPAYMENT.—In the event of an overpay-
ment of basic educational assistance with respect to a de-
pendent to whom entitlement is transferred under this sec-
tion, 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. 
‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretaries concerned shall 
prescribe regulations for purposes of this section. 
‘‘(j) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than January 31 
of each calendar year (beginning in 2006), the Secretary 
of Defense, in consultation with the other Secretaries con-