Guard and Reserve Gi Bill Parity Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Bost for yielding me the time. I am always proud to stand on this floor and talk about the men and women who serve our country. And it is our country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition today to H.R. 1836, the Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act of 2021. And it kind of saddens me that I have to rise in opposition because while this bill, well-intentioned, is unfortunately potentially prone to unintended consequences on the overall readiness of our Armed Forces, Active Reserve and Guard. But first I must note that these issues could have been brought to light earlier had this piece of legislation gone through regular order, received proper consideration across all the normal things that we historically have done. It received no legislative hearings, foregoing the opportunity to receive input from key stakeholders, veteran service organizations, new committee members on both sides of the aisle, and even the Biden administration.

Without that engagement, we are just left with a bill that in its current form, which would count guard and reservists Federal Active- Duty service days towards GI eligibility, including for training. And there is a very subtle difference. In fact, it is a very exact difference in law between Active Duty for training and Active Duty.

I spent much of my 40-year Marine Corps career in the Reserve component. And in fact, a little known part of my bio, my first 2 years off of Active Duty in the Marine Corps, I spent 2 years as a member of the Rhode Island National Guard. So not only Active component, Reserve component, but also a guardsman as well.

And my final assignment for 4\1/2\ years, I had the blessing and the opportunity to command the Marine Corps Reserve, roughly 100,000 folks in 183 sites across the country at a time when we are deploying them at never-before-seen rates.

I will always stand by the unwavering service and sacrifice given by the men and women in the Reserve component and the National Guard.

This bill, however, may unintentionally become an obstacle to the recruitment and retention efforts of our Active component military. We are in a time, and have been for over 40 years, of an all-recruited force on all levels.

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Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, even as Governors offer non-GI Bill education benefits to their Guard, the parity with Active-Duty Forces that this bill is seeking for the Guard and Reserves, again, could impact our Active-Duty military, which we need to be ready at all times, considering today's global threats.

Today, more than 4 years after my colleagues and I passed into law an unprecedented GI Bill expansion to allow any veteran to use these GI Bill benefits without restriction of time, so they are good to go for as long as they live, I still believe there are many ways we can work responsibly to expand these benefits.

For these reasons, I will be voting in favor of my friend and colleague Mr. Moore's benefit expansion amendment to ensure guard and reservists accrue GI Bill eligibility during any and all Federal Active-Duty days that are not training days.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill and support the Moore amendment.

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