[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7895 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7895

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the restoration 
of entitlement of individuals entitled to educational assistance under 
the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs who use such 
     entitlement to pursue a course or program of education at an 
educational institution found to have violated certain prohibitions on 
 advertising, sales, and enrollment practices, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 9, 2024

   Mr. Bost introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the restoration 
of entitlement of individuals entitled to educational assistance under 
the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs who use such 
     entitlement to pursue a course or program of education at an 
educational institution found to have violated certain prohibitions on 
 advertising, sales, and enrollment practices, 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 ``Recoupment of Expenditures for 
Student Tuition Outlays and Restoration of Entitlement Act'' or the 
``RESTORE Act''.

SEC. 2. TREATMENT BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF EDUCATIONAL 
              INSTITUTIONS THAT VIOLATE CERTAIN PROHIBITIONS ON 
              ADVERTISING, SALES, AND ENROLLMENT PRACTICES.

    (a) Restoration of Entitlement.--Section 3696 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (i) through (l) as 
        subsections (j) through (m), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new 
        subsection (i):
    ``(i) Restoration of Entitlement.--Upon a final determination by 
the Under Secretary for Benefits under subsection (g), including the 
results of any appeal under subsection (i), that an educational 
institution or the owner of an educational institution violated 
subsection (a), (c), or (d), the Secretary may determine that any 
payment of educational assistance to an individual who used entitlement 
to educational assistance under chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, or 35 of this 
title, or chapter 1606 or 1607 of title 10, to pursue a course or 
program of education at such educational institution during the time 
period when the violation occurred, and who was unable to continue such 
course or program at such educational institution by reason of such 
violation, is not--
            ``(1) charged against any entitlement to educational 
        assistance of the individual; or
            ``(2) counted against the aggregate period for which 
        section 3695 of this title limits the receipt of educational 
        assistance by such individual.''.
    (b) Repayment of Funds.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (h) of such section is 
        amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ``subsection 
                (i)'' and inserting ``subsection (j)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
    ``(5)(A) In addition to any other enforcement action taken under 
this subsection, upon a final determination by the Under Secretary for 
Benefits under subsection (g) that an educational institution or the 
owner of an educational institution violated subsection (a), (c), or 
(d), the Secretary shall require the educational institution to repay 
to the Secretary all amounts of educational assistance under chapter 
30, 31, 32, 33, or 35 of this title, or chapter 1606 or 1607 of title 
10, paid to the educational institution by or on behalf of an 
individual who pursued a course or program of education at the 
educational institution during the time period when the violation 
occurred.
    ``(B) As a condition of the approval of a course or program of 
education under this chapter, the educational institution offering the 
course or program shall agree that if Under Secretary of Benefits makes 
a final determination under subsection (g) that the educational 
institution or the owner of the educational institution violated 
subsection (a), (c), or (d), the educational institution shall make the 
repayment required under subparagraph (A).
    ``(C) The Under Secretary shall establish a process for making a 
determination regarding the amount an educational institution or an 
owner of an educational institution is required to repay under 
subparagraph (A) in the case of a violation of subsection (a), (c), or 
(d). Such process shall include--
            ``(i) clearly defined factors to be used to determine the 
        amount attributable to the violation, including the degree to 
        which individuals enrolled in a program of education offered by 
        the educational institution using entitlement to educational 
        assistance under chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, or 35 of this title or 
        chapter 1606 or 1607 of title 10 suffered a loss due to the 
        violation;
            ``(ii) a requirement that the Under Secretary provide 
        notice to the educational institution or the owner of the 
        educational institution that the Under Secretary is in the 
        process of making such a determination with respect to the 
        educational institution or owner; and
            ``(iii) a procedure under which the educational institution 
        or owner may provide such information to the Under Secretary as 
        the educational institution or owner determines appropriate 
        within a specified period of time outlined by the Secretary for 
        purposes of informing such determination.
    ``(D) A determination made pursuant to subparagraph (C) shall be--
            ``(i) made by the Under Secretary and may not be delegated; 
        and
            ``(ii) subject to review under section 7104(a) of this 
        title.''.
            (2) Disapproval.--Section 3679 of title 38, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, in the 
case of an educational institution that the Secretary determines is 
required to repay to the Secretary an amount under section 3696(h)(5) 
of this title and does not repay such amount, the Secretary shall 
disapprove a course or program of education offered by the educational 
institution until the educational institution repays to the Secretary 
such amount.''.
            (3) Reinstatement.--Paragraph (2) of subsection (k) of 
        section 3696, as redesignated by subsection (a)(1), is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (E)--
                            (i) by striking ``that''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 
                subparagraph (G); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the 
                following new subparagraph (F):
            ``(F) the educational institution repays any amount 
        required to be repaid under subsection (h)(5); and''.
    (c) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section shall apply 
with respect to a violation that occurs on or after the date that is 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>