[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 83 (Monday, May 21, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H4254-H4256]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SERVICEMEMBERS IMPROVED TRANSITION THROUGH REFORMS FOR ENSURING 
                              PROGRESS ACT

  Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4830) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the 
disapproval of any course of education for purposes of the educational 
assistance programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs unless the 
educational institution providing the course permits individuals to 
attend or participate in courses pending payment by Department, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4830

       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 ``Servicemembers Improved 
     Transition through Reforms for Ensuring Progress Act'' or the 
     ``SIT-REP Act''.

     SEC. 2. DISAPPROVAL FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 
                   PROGRAMS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF 
                   CERTAIN COURSES OF EDUCATION THAT DO NOT PERMIT 
                   INDIVIDUALS TO ATTEND OR PARTICIPATE IN COURSES 
                   PENDING PAYMENT.

       Section 3679 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(e)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
     chapter, beginning on August 1, 2018, a State approving 
     agency, or the Secretary when acting in the role of the State 
     approving agency, shall disapprove a course of education 
     provided by an educational institution unless the educational 
     institution has adopted the following policies:
       ``(A) A policy that permits any covered individual to 
     attend or participate in the course of education during the 
     period beginning on the date on which the individual provides 
     to the educational institution a certificate of eligibility 
     for entitlement to educational assistance under chapter 31 or 
     33 of this title and ending on the earlier of the following 
     dates:
       ``(i) The date on which the Secretary provides payment for 
     such course of education to such institution.
       ``(ii) The date that is 90 days after the date on which the 
     individual provides to the educational institution such 
     certificate of eligibility.
       ``(B) A policy that ensures that the educational 
     institution will not impose any penalty, including the 
     assessment of late fees, the denial of access to classes, 
     libraries, or other institutional facilities, or the 
     requirement that a covered individual borrow additional 
     funds, on any covered individual because of the individual's 
     inability to meet his or her financial obligations to the 
     institution as a result of the delayed disbursement of any 
     payment to be provided by the Secretary.
       ``(2) For purposes of this subsection, a covered individual 
     is any individual who is entitled to educational assistance 
     under chapter 31 or 33 of this title.
       ``(3) The Secretary may waive such requirements of 
     paragraph (1) as the Secretary considers appropriate.''.

[[Page H4255]]

  


     SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION REGARDING APPLICABILITY OF AUTHORITY TO 
                   USE EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO PURSUE 
                   INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAMS AT CERTAIN 
                   EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE NOT 
                   INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING.

       The section heading for section 302 of the Harry W. Colmery 
     Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-
     48) is amended to read as follows (and the table of contents 
     for such Act is conformed accordingly):

     ``SEC. 302. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 
                   UNDER ANY OF THE EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 
                   PROGRAMS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
                   TO PURSUE INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAMS AT CERTAIN 
                   EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE NOT 
                   INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Dunn) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 4830, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4830, as amended, the 
SIT-REP Act, the Servicemembers Improved Transition through Reforms for 
Ensuring Progress Act.
  Mr. Speaker, the Post-9/11 GI Bill provides generous education 
benefits, including a monthly living stipend to veterans and eligible 
dependents. In order for a student to utilize this benefit, they must 
provide a certificate of eligibility to the school or training program 
and then the institution certifies the student's attendance to the 
Department of Veterans Affairs. After this process, the school receives 
tuition payment and the veteran receives their monthly housing 
allowance.
  Mr. Speaker, if all goes well, those claims are supposed to be 
processed within 12 to 14 days for original claims, and between 6 to 8 
days for supplemental claims. However, there are times when delays do 
occur, and they can have a significant impact on a school's and a 
student's bottom line. These delays typically occur at the beginning of 
a semester, or when a school doesn't do their part to certify a 
student's attendance quickly.
  Mr. Speaker, we have been told that some schools and training 
programs have, essentially, taken these delays out on their student 
veterans, dependents and surviving spouses by placing students on 
payment plans, blocking access to school facilities; and, in some 
cases, have been barring students from registering for classes.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe these practices are incredibly unfair, as 
students should not be held accountable for bureaucratic delays and 
hiccups that are outside their control. I am pleased that H.R. 4830, as 
amended, would address this issue and say that in order for schools and 
training programs to be eligible for the GI Bill, they must adopt a 
policy that doesn't punish students in any way for delays in tuition 
fees and payments that are not their fault.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Vice Chairman Bilirakis and the Tragedy 
Assistance Program for Survivors, TAPS, a great organization that helps 
survivors of all ages deal with loss, for bringing this important bill 
forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4830, as amended, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for, once again, 
bringing up a really important piece of legislation. I believe the 
gentleman is also the longest serving member of the Veterans' Affairs 
Committee. Any piece of important legislation over the last decade-plus 
has had his hand in it.
  H.R. 4830, as amended, is a bill that we have worked on in a 
bipartisan basis with TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for 
Survivors. TAPS came to the committee and to Mr. Bilirakis, after they 
heard from many surviving spouses that with all of the changes that 
were being implemented on August 1, there will be delayed payments and 
processing times for payments for veterans and survivors enrolled for 
the fall 2018 semester.

                              {time}  1545

  The Forever GI Bill that we are all in this body proud of passing and 
proud of updating contains several large-scale changes the VA is 
currently working very hard to implement. Some of those changes went 
into effect in the fall of 2017, and TAPS reported to the committee 
that, because of delays in VA payments, many schools demanded payment 
from students.
  There were stories of students who were not allowed to attend class, 
register for classes, or use campus facilities only because the VA 
payment was delayed. In some cases, students were even put on a payment 
plan they could not afford or forced to take out student loans with 
egregious orientation fees in order to continue their education.
  This bill will provide students receiving VA payments with the same 
protections as those who receive title IV funding, such as Pell Grants 
and Federal student loans. These title IV students are allowed to 
attend classes, participate in extracurricular activities, and use 
campus facilities as long as their school knows payment is forthcoming.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4830, as amended, will give the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs the ability to disapprove any course of education 
unless the educational institution providing the course permits 
individuals to attend or participate in courses pending payment by the 
VA and accept a certificate of eligibility as a promise. As such, the 
bill will serve as a preventive measure to discourage schools from 
engaging in shutting out VA beneficiaries simply because of an 
administrative delay. This is a really good step toward ensuring that 
our student veterans and other GI Bill beneficiaries are not 
unnecessarily prevented from getting the most of their benefits due.
  To be very clear about this, there are very few benefits that are 
really earned in the way a GI Bill benefit is earned. Those of us who 
have used the GI Bill to get an education know how important it is.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for continuing to show care for 
these veterans. This is a great, smart piece of legislation. I 
encourage its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the vice chairman of the committee.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Dunn, my fellow Floridian, a 
great Member of Congress, and also my good friend Mr. Walz, who has 
done an outstanding job over the years supporting our veterans. I also 
thank Mr. Walz for his service.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 4830, the 
Servicemembers Improved Transition through Reforms for Ensuring 
Progress Act, or the SIT-REP Act, which will hold student veterans 
harmless from bureaucratic red tape and delays at higher education 
institutions at the VA.
  I am proud of the work my colleagues and I conducted on the Veterans' 
Affairs Committee last year to pass the Harry W. Colmery Veterans 
Education Assistance Act, or the Forever GI Bill. This historic 
legislation expanded access to education and improves and modernizes 
the GI Bill for our veterans.
  This is one of the reasons, Mr. Speaker, we came to Congress: to do 
something like this, to help our veterans get their education.
  In our committee hearings on implementation of the Forever GI Bill, 
we heard concerns about the delays in processing of tuition payments 
between the schools and the VA. I also had roundtables in my district 
with veterans, and this was a concern of theirs.
  So while the average timelines for processing these benefits are 25 
days for new claims and 9 days for supplemental claims, oftentimes the 
processing timelines spike higher at the beginning of each school year 
upon a surge in claims.
  We heard concerns from our VSO stakeholders--I thank them--regarding 
delayed payments resulting from either slow VA processing or a mistake 
or tardiness by the school certifying official. In some cases, the 
delays meant schools putting a hold on a student's

[[Page H4256]]

account or forcing the student to begin payment of tuition and fees on 
a payment plan until they received money from VA.
  My bill, the SIT-REP Act, would give the Secretary the authority to 
disapprove courses of education for the GI Bill unless the educational 
institution adopts a policy ensuring that it will not impose a fee on 
the veteran or deny the veteran's access to education. This policy 
would be applied for the first 90 days of the school term.
  The SIT-REP Act is a commonsense bill that protects student veterans 
and their families who, through no fault of their own, are denied 
access to education because the school made a mistake or the VA made a 
late payment. It is not the veteran's fault, and they should not be 
punished for the actions of others.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me in support of my 
practical and bipartisan legislation, which will help ensure our 
student veterans have full access to the educational benefits they have 
earned and deserve. I hope that the Senate takes up this bill quickly.
  Again, I urge passage of this great bill. We have got to get it to 
the President's desk as soon as possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the committee staff as well. They did a great 
job on this bill.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for his 
great work on this. I encourage its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support 
H.R. 4830, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Dunn) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 4830, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________