Sen. Murray Urges VA Secretary to Investigate Allegations Concerning G.I. Bill Benefits

Press Release

Today, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, urged Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald to investigate allegations that a number of questionable unaccredited educational institutions have received G.I. Bill benefits despite federal regulations to prevent it. The urging follows a report by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting.

The letter, signed by Senator Murray, as well as Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Jack Reed (D-RI), stated: "The report documents a number of educationally questionable, and in some instances morally repugnant, institutions that have inexplicably received VA education benefits. These include an unlicensed massage therapy school, an institute whose parent organization is a listed hate group, and an institute on human sexuality claiming to be in possession of child pornography. If true, this is a terrible failure of our promise to veterans and taxpayers," the Senators wrote.

"The VA is charged with protecting our veterans from unscrupulous entities by enforcing federal regulations allowing only those institutions whose instruction is "consistent in quality, content, and length' with accredited institutions. VA's enforcement and oversight is critical given over 2,000 unaccredited institutions have reportedly received more than $260 million in G.I. Bill benefits between 2009 and 2014."

Source