Sole Liability for Transferred Educational Assistance By An Individual Who Fails to Complete A Service Agreement

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 290) to amend title 38, United States Code, to render an individual, who transfers certain educational assistance, to which the individual is entitled because of an agreement by such individual to serve in the Armed Forces, to a dependent of that individual, and who fails to complete such agreement, solely liable for the overpayment of such educational assistance, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 290

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SOLE LIABILITY FOR TRANSFERRED EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE BY AN INDIVIDUAL WHO FAILS TO COMPLETE A SERVICE AGREEMENT.

(a) In General.--Subsection (i) of section 3319 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)--

(A) by striking ``In the event'' and inserting ``Subject to paragraph (2), in the event''; and

(B) by inserting ``of this title'' after ``section 3685'';

(2) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2)--

(A) in the heading, by striking ``In general'' and inserting ``Sole liability''; and

(B) by inserting ``for which the individual shall be solely liable to the United States for the amount of the overpayment for purposes of section 3685 of this title'' before the period at the end; and

(3) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2)--

(A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking ``Subparagraph (A) shall not apply'' and inserting ``Neither the individual nor the dependent shall be liable to the United States for the amount of the overpayment for purposes of section 3685 of this title''; and

(B) in clause (ii), by inserting ``of this title'' after ``section 3311(c)(4)''.

(b) Reversion.--Effective October 1, 2024, such subsection (i) is amended to read as it read on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

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Mr. TAKANO. 290, as amended.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, the eligibility for veterans to transfer their earned educational benefits is limited based on service time and commitments to additional service time. Recently, there have been a number of cases where DOD erroneously calculated servicemembers' time in service, allowing the servicemember to transfer a benefit when they should not have, as in the case of Russell Dotson.

In Mr. Dotson's case, he was told by the Navy that he was able to transfer his benefit to his daughter. Unfortunately, the Navy was 6 days off in its calculation. That led to his daughter's GI Bill-covered tuition at DePaul University being cut off. Now, she and her father, a veteran who served 22 years and was honored for saving two lives in Afghanistan, are left having to repay more than $20,000.

As a result of these errors, the veteran and their dependent are saddled with a huge bill, that is overpayment, for the cost of erroneously billed educational costs. The debt levied on the dependent is costly and can ruin their credit before they enter the labor force, which could impact their housing and job opportunities.

H.R. 290, as amended, limits liabilities to ensure that there aren't surprise debts created by errors in paperwork. This legislation has been supported by VSOs such as the VFW, American Legion, and the Student Veterans of America.

Madam Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Bost for his work on this issue. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 290, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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