Introducing Legislation to Improve the Post 9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Program

* Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise today to introduce legislation that would help improve one of the major new benefit programs--the Post 9/11 Veterans Education Assistance program (P.L. 110-252)--better known as the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill that Congress created in recognition of the continuing sacrifice of the men and women in our Armed Forces.

* This new law provides veterans with active duty service after Sept. 11, 2001 with enhanced educational benefits to cover more expenses including a living allowance and money for books. Just over 2 years ago--June 30, 2008--this legislation was signed into law and the first benefit checks were disbursed in August 2009. While there have been problems at the startup of this program which I hope have now been largely resolved, hundreds of thousands of veterans are now attending classes using the post-9/11 GI bill.

* One of the new benefits available for our men and women in uniform is a provision allowing servicemembers to transfer unused benefits to their spouses and dependent children. Children can use these benefits up until age 26 to pursue higher education. This provision was included in recognition of the invaluable and uncompensated sacrifices made by the families of members of the Armed Forces, and in particular their children, who provide unconditional love and support to their loved ones serving in the Armed Forces. The Department of Defense June 2007 Mental Health Task Force report noted that ``The well-being of service members is inextricably linked to the well-being of their families.''

* The legislation that I am introducing today--the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill Dependent Coverage Improvement Act--would make this transferable benefit useful for more families. The current Post-9/11 G.I. bill statute allows children of servicemembers to use these transferred benefits up until age 26 but regulations essentially require that transfer to take place prior to that child turning age 23.

* Mr. Speaker, I can find no valid policy reason for this gap. My bill would close this gap and allow children of servicemembers to be transferred these benefits up to the current limit on when they can use those benefits, age 26. This change is written in a way so that its impact is limited to just this program.

* This gap was brought to my attention by a constituent, a veteran of multiple wars, who tried to transfer his Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to his daughter only to be blocked by the age limitation. I can only imagine his disappointment at finding out that he could not pass these hard earned benefits to the daughter he has loved and supported her whole life.

* Age 26 is now widely recognized as a critical age up to which other important benefits for dependent children are being tied, including under the new health care reform law. Earlier this month, the FY 2011 National Defense Authorization Act that this House passed would extend coverage under TRICARE for dependent children up to age 26 to match the requirement in the health reform law. If this fix was appropriate for health care benefits, it certainly ought to be appropriate for education benefits.

* When the Post-9/11 GI bill was passed we were primarily concerned with increasing the benefits available to our brave servicemen and servicewomen, not putting up more barriers to keep them from accessing them. Unfortunately, this oversight limits the scope of these new benefits in a way that was certainly unintended. With this legislation, we can correct this so all eligible dependents are provided access to the benefits this bill provides. I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort.

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