[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3627 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3627

     To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide additional 
entitlement to Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to certain veterans and 
members of the Armed Forces who require extra time to complete remedial 
            and deficiency courses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 14, 2018

  Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide additional 
entitlement to Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to certain veterans and 
members of the Armed Forces who require extra time to complete remedial 
            and deficiency courses, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Education and Transfer 
Extension Act'' or the ``VET Extension Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Individuals who are entitled to Post-9/11 Educational 
        Assistance who require remedial and deficiency courses exhaust 
        their entitlement before completing a program of education with 
        such assistance.
            (2) Members of the Armed Forces who are entitled to Post-9/
        11 Educational Assistance and who do not have dependents while 
        serving as members of the Armed Forces are not able to transfer 
        their entitlement to such assistance when they come to have 
        dependents.
            (3) Under a Department of Defense policy issued in July 
        2018, eligibility to transfer entitlement to Post-9/11 
        Educational Assistance is limited to eligible members of the 
        Armed Forces with less than 16 years of total active-duty or 
        selected reserve service.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL ENTITLEMENT TO POST-9/11 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR 
              CERTAIN VETERANS AND MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO 
              REQUIRE EXTRA TIME TO COMPLETE REMEDIAL COURSES.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 33 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 3320A. Additional assistance
    ``(a) In General.--The number of months of educational assistance 
under section 3313 an eligible individual is entitled to under section 
3312 is hereby increased by the lesser of--
            ``(1) 15 months; and
            ``(2) in the case of an eligible individual who completed 
        remedial and deficiency courses as described in subsection 
        (b)(4), the full-time equivalent number of months of 
        educational assistance used under this chapter to complete such 
        remedial and deficiency courses.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--For purposes of this section, an eligible 
individual is an individual--
            ``(1) who is or was entitled to educational assistance 
        under section 3311 of this title;
            ``(2) has received educational assistance under this 
        chapter at any time during the most recent six month period;
            ``(3) who has used all of the educational assistance to 
        which the individual is entitled under this chapter; and
            ``(4) who has completed remedial and deficiency courses in 
        pursuit of completing a program of education at an institution 
        of higher learning and in doing so requires more than the 
        standard 128 semester (or 192 quarter) credit hours for 
        completion of a program of education at an institution of 
        higher learning.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `institution of higher learning' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 3452 of this title.
            ``(2) The term `remedial and deficiency course' means a 
        course offered by an institution of higher learning that is 
        designed to overcome a deficiency.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
3320 the following new item:

``3320A. Additional assistance.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 3695 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) In the case of an individual who receives additional 
educational assistance under section 3320A of this title, the number of 
months specified in subsection (a) shall instead be construed to 
specify the number of months that is equal to the sum of--
            ``(1) such number of months, and
            ``(2) the amount of the increase in number of months of 
        educational assistance to which the individual is entitled 
        pursuant to section 3320A(a) of such title.''.

SEC. 4. INCREASED FLEXIBILITY IN TRANSFERRING ENTITLEMENT TO POST-9/11 
              EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Election Without Dependents.--Section 3319 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as 
                subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively, and 
                indenting such subparagraphs appropriately;
                    (B) in the matter before subparagraph (A), as 
                redesignated by subparagraph (A), by striking ``An'' 
                and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--An''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph (2):
            ``(2) Timing of designation.--In the case of an individual 
        who elects to transfer entitlement under subsection (a) but who 
        at the time of the election does not have any eligible 
        dependents, the individual may carry out the designations 
        required by paragraph (1) when the individual comes to have an 
        eligible dependent to whom the individual would like to 
        transfer entitlement under this section.'';
            (2) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (1); and
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 
                paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively.
    (b) No Limitation on When Election Can Be Made While Serving.--
Subsection (j) of such section is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
    ``(3) The Secretary of Defense may not prescribe under this 
subsection any limitation on the period in which a member of the Armed 
Forces may make an election under this section that is not already 
specifically provided for under this section.''.
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