I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2068 
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 
APRIL 6, 2017 
Mr. TAKANO (for himself, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. DELBENE, 
Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. 
PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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 ‘‘Department of Vet-
erans Affairs Veterans Education Relief and Restoration 
Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF ENTITLEMENT TO EDUCATIONAL 
ASSISTANCE AND OTHER RELIEF FOR VET-
ERANS AFFECTED BY SCHOOL CLOSURE. 
(a) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 3312 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) DISCONTINUATION
OF EDUCATION DUE
TO 
SCHOOL CLOSURE.— 
‘‘(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 
pursuit as a result of a permanent school clo-
sure; and 
‘‘(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 of— 
‘‘(A) the portion of the period of enroll-
ment in the course or courses from which the 
individual failed to receive credit or with respect 
to which the individual lost training time, as de-
termined under paragraph (2)(B); and 
‘‘(B) the period by which monthly stipend 
is extended under section 3680(a)(2)(B) of this 
title.’’. 
(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 subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
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paragraph (2) of such subsection in fiscal year 2015 
or any fiscal year thereafter. 
(b) MONTHLY HOUSING STIPEND.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3680(a) of such title 
is amended— 
(A) by striking the matter after paragraph 
(3)(B); 
(B) in paragraph (3), by redesignating 
subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and 
(ii), respectively; 
(C) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(1) 
through (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), 
respectively; 
(D) in the matter before subparagraph 
(A), as redesignated, in the first sentence, by 
striking ‘‘Payment of’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) Ex-
cept as provided in paragraph (2), payment of’’; 
and 
(E) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph (2): 
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary 
may, pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary shall 
prescribe, continue to pay allowances to eligible veterans 
and eligible persons enrolled in courses set forth in para-
graph (1)(A)— 
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‘‘(A) during periods when schools are tempo-
rarily closed under an established policy based on an 
Executive order of the President or due to an emer-
gency situation, except that the total number of 
weeks for which allowances may continue to be so 
payable in any 12-month period may not exceed four 
weeks; or 
‘‘(B) solely for the purpose of awarding a 
monthly housing stipend described in section 3313 
of this title, during periods following a permanent 
school closure, except that payment of such a sti-
pend may only be continued until the earlier of— 
‘‘(i) the date of the end of the term, quar-
ter, or semester during which the school closure 
occurred; and 
‘‘(ii) the date that is 4 months after the 
date of the school closure.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Paragraph 
(1)(C)(ii) of such section, as redesignated, is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘described in subclause (A) of this 
clause’’ and inserting ‘‘described in clause (ii)’’. 
Æ 
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