I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4889 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to recodify as part of that title 
chapter 1607 of title 10, United States Code. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2007 
Mr. FILNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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 jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to recodify as part 
of that title chapter 1607 of title 10, United States Code. 
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 Guard and Reserves 
Are Fighting Too Act of 2008’’. 
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SEC. 2. RECODIFICATION IN TITLE 38, UNITED STATES 
CODE, OF CERTAIN EDUCATIONAL ASSIST-
ANCE PROGRAMS FOR MEMBERS OF THE RE-
SERVE COMPONENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 32 the fol-
lowing new chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 
33—EDUCATIONAL 
ASSIST-
ANCE FOR MEMBERS OF THE RE-
SERVE 
COMPONENTS 
SUPPORTING 
CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS AND CER-
TAIN OTHER OPERATIONS 
‘‘3301. Purpose. 
‘‘3302. Educational assistance program. 
‘‘3303. Eligibility for educational assistance. 
‘‘3304. Time limit for use of entitlement. 
‘‘3305. Termination of assistance. 
‘‘3306. Administration of program. 
‘‘§ 3301. Purpose 
‘‘The purpose of this chapter is to provide educational 
assistance to members of the reserve components called 
or ordered to active service in response to a war or na-
tional emergency declared by the President or Congress, 
in recognition of the sacrifices that those members make 
in answering the call to duty. 
‘‘§ 3302. Educational assistance program 
‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of 
each military department, under regulations prescribed by 
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the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall establish and 
maintain a program as prescribed in this chapter to pro-
vide educational assistance to members of the Ready Re-
serve of the Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of the 
Secretary concerned. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—Edu-
cational assistance may be provided under this chapter for 
pursuit of any program of education that is an approved 
program of education for purposes of chapter 30 of this 
title. 
‘‘(c) BENEFIT AMOUNT.—(1) The educational assist-
ance program established under subsection (a) shall pro-
vide for payment by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of 
an educational assistance allowance to each member enti-
tled to educational assistance under this chapter who is 
pursuing a program of education authorized under sub-
section (b). 
‘‘(2) The educational assistance allowance provided 
under this chapter shall be based on the applicable percent 
under paragraph (4) to the applicable rate provided under 
section 3015 of this title for a member whose entitlement 
is based on completion of an obligated period of active 
duty of three years. 
‘‘(3) The educational assistance allowance provided 
under this section for a person who is undertaking a pro-
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gram for which a reduced rate is specified in chapter 30 
of this title, that rate shall be further adjusted by the ap-
plicable percent specified in paragraph (4). 
‘‘(4) The adjusted educational assistance allowance 
under paragraph (2) or (3), as applicable, shall be— 
‘‘(A) 40 percent in the case of a member of a 
reserve component who performed active service for 
90 consecutive days but less than one continuous 
year; 
‘‘(B) 60 percent in the case of a member of a 
reserve component who performed active service for 
one continuous year but less than two continuous 
years; or 
‘‘(C) 80 percent in the case of a member of a 
reserve component who performed active service for 
two continuous years or more. 
‘‘(d) MAXIMUM MONTHS OF ASSISTANCE.—(1) Sub-
ject to section 3695 of this title, the maximum number 
of months of educational assistance that may be provided 
to any member under this chapter is 36 (or the equivalent 
thereof in part-time educational assistance). 
‘‘(2)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
chapter or chapter 36 of this title, any payment of an edu-
cational assistance allowance described in subparagraph 
(B) shall not— 
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‘‘(i) be charged against the entitlement of any 
individual under this chapter; or 
‘‘(ii) be counted toward the aggregate period for 
which section 3695 of this title limits an individual’s 
receipt of assistance. 
‘‘(B) The payment of the educational assistance al-
lowance referred to in subparagraph (A) is the payment 
of such an allowance to the individual for pursuit of a 
course or courses under this chapter if the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs finds that the individual— 
‘‘(i) had to discontinue such course pursuit as 
a result of being ordered to serve on active duty 
under section 12301(a), 12301(d), 12301(g), 12302, 
or 12304 of title 10; and 
‘‘(ii) 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 clause 
(i), the individual’s course pursuit. 
‘‘(C) The period for which, by reason of this sub-
section, an educational assistance allowance is not charged 
against entitlement or counted toward the applicable ag-
gregate period under section 3695 of this title shall not 
exceed the portion of the period of enrollment in the 
course or courses for which the individual failed to receive 
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credit or with respect to which the individual lost training 
time, as determined under subparagraph (B)(ii). 
‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE FOR LICENSING 
AND CERTIFICATION TESTS.—(1) Subject to paragraph 
(3), the amount of educational assistance payable under 
this chapter for a licensing or certification test described 
in section 3452(b) of this title is the lesser of $2,000 or 
the fee charged for the test. 
‘‘(2) The number of months of entitlement charged 
in the case of any individual for such licensing or certifi-
cation test is equal to the number (including any fraction) 
determined by dividing the total amount of educational as-
sistance paid such individual for such test by the full-time 
monthly institutional rate of educational assistance which, 
but for paragraph (1), such individual would otherwise be 
paid under subsection (c). 
‘‘(3) 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. 
‘‘(f) FLIGHT TRAINING.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs may approve the pursuit of flight training (in addi-
tion to a course of flight training that may be approved 
under section 3680A(b) of this title) by an individual enti-
tled to educational assistance under this chapter if— 
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‘‘(1) such training is generally accepted as nec-
essary for the attainment of a recognized vocational 
objective in the field of aviation; 
‘‘(2) the individual possesses a valid private 
pilot certificate and meets, on the day the member 
begins a course of flight training, the medical re-
quirements necessary for a commercial pilot certifi-
cate; and 
‘‘(3) the flight school courses meet Federal 
Aviation Administration standards for such courses 
and are approved by the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration and the State approving agency. 
‘‘§ 3303. Eligibility for educational assistance 
‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.—On or after September 11, 2001, 
a member of a reserve component is entitled to educational 
assistance under this chapter if the member— 
‘‘(1) served on active duty in support of a con-
tingency operation for 90 consecutive days or more; 
or 
‘‘(2) in the case of a member of the Army Na-
tional Guard of the United States or Air National 
Guard of the United States, performed full time Na-
tional Guard duty under section 502(f) of title 32 
for 90 consecutive days or more when authorized by 
the President or Secretary of Defense for the pur-
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