[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 150 (Monday, September 18, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H4357-H4358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ISAKSON-ROE EDUCATION OVERSIGHT EXPANSION ACT

  Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3981) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 
methods by which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs conducts oversight 
of certain educational institutions, and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3981

       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 ``Isakson-Roe Education 
     Oversight Expansion Act''.

     SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OVERSIGHT 
                   OF CERTAIN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

       (a) Additional Requirement for Approval.--Section 3675(b) 
     of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
     end the following new paragraph:
       ``(5) The educational institution agrees to, not later than 
     30 days after any date on which such educational institution 
     becomes subject to an action or event described in section 
     3673(e)(3) of this title, submit to the State approving 
     agency, or the Secretary when acting in the role of a State 
     approving agency, a notification of such action or event in 
     such form and containing such information as the Secretary 
     determines appropriate.''.
       (b) Additional Requirement for Approval of Nonaccredited 
     Courses.--
       (1) In general.--Section 3676(c) of such title is amended--
       (A) by redesignating paragraphs (14) through (16) as 
     paragraphs (15) through (17), respectively; and
       (B) by inserting after paragraph (13) the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(14) The institution agrees to, not later than 30 days 
     after any date on which such institution becomes subject to 
     an action or event described in section 3673(e)(3) of this 
     title, submit to the State approving agency, or the Secretary 
     when acting in the role of a State approving agency, a 
     notification of such action or event in such form and 
     containing such information as the Secretary determines 
     appropriate.''.
       (2) Conforming amendments.--Such title is further amended--
       (A) in section 3672(b)(2)(C), by striking ``paragraph (14) 
     or (15)'' and inserting ``paragraph (15) or (16)'';
       (B) in section 3675(b)(3), by striking ``(14), (15), and 
     (16)'' and inserting ``(15), (16), and (17)'';
       (C) in section 3679(d), by striking ``described in 
     paragraph (14) or (15)'' and inserting ``described in 
     paragraph (15) or (16)''; and
       (D) in section 3680A(a)(4)(C)(iii), by striking ``section 
     3676(c)(14) and (15)'' and inserting ``section 3676(c)(15) 
     and (16)''.
       (c) Additional Grounds for Suspension of Approval.--Section 
     3679(f)(1) of such title is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new subparagraph:
       ``(I) Comply with the notification requirements under 
     sections 3675(b)(5) and 3676(c)(14) of this title, when 
     applicable.''.
       (d) Deadline for Risk-based Surveys Database.--The 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish the database 
     required under section 3673A(c) of title 38, United States 
     Code, by not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Bost) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
H.R. 3981, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3981, as amended. This 
bill makes improvements to protect veterans while they are using their 
GI Bill.
  Specifically, this bill would require schools to self-report adverse 
actions to their State approving agency in addition to the VA within 30 
days.
  State approving agencies are required to approve and review schools 
and training programs for the GI Bill. This bill would also require VA 
to create a risk-based survey database within 180 days.
  Congress has been waiting for the VA to implement this database for a 
long time. This proposal would make it clear to the VA that Congress 
still intends for this database to be implemented.
  I appreciate the bipartisan work that has been done at the committee 
level to ensure that this bill supports veterans while also not 
increasing government spending.
  I thank Mr. McGarvey for his work in introducing this proposal, and I 
urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 3981, as amended.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 3981, as 
amended, the Isakson-Roe Education Oversight Expansion Act.
  Madam Speaker, before I came to Congress, I was a teacher. When I was 
entrusted with the gavel as chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee 
in 2019, one of my primary focuses was helping student veterans. Now, I 
serve as ranking member. However, I am incredibly proud of what our 
committee did during our 4 years in the majority.
  In 2021, we passed a significant student-veteran focused law: 
Representative   Mike Levin's Isakson-Roe Veterans Health Care and 
Benefits Improvement Act, named for former House and Senate chairmen 
Phil Roe and Johnny Isakson. That law was a massive leap forward in 
education quality and oversight for student veterans.
  Representative McGarvey's legislation, H.R. 3981, builds upon the 
Isakson-Roe Act and further improves the system of oversight we 
established in the 2021 law. Now, schools will join the process of 
reporting violations, no longer waiting for State approving agencies or 
VA to uncover errors before it is too late.
  The legislation before us also improves transparency for the risk-
based surveys created by Isakson-Roe. VA started conducting these 
surveys in late 2022, but schools need to know how these surveys work 
so they can better deliver for our student veterans. The legislation 
improves schools' access to the risk-based survey database.
  Madam Speaker, I support H.R. 3981, as amended.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. 
McGarvey), my good friend, who is a member of our Subcommittee on 
Economic Opportunity and also the sponsor of H.R. 3981.
  Mr. McGARVEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 
3981, the Isakson-Roe Education Oversight Expansion Act. I am proud to 
sponsor this legislation, which builds

[[Page H4358]]

on Ranking Member Levin's comprehensive bill, the Isakson-Roe Veterans 
Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020.
  My hometown and district in Louisville, Kentucky, is home to nearly 
50,000 veterans. Veterans in Louisville and across our country deserve 
as much support from the government when they come out of Active Duty 
as when they go in. Today, we have an opportunity to show our vets that 
we are listening to their concerns and that we are going to do 
something about it.
  H.R. 3981 will help the VA deliver on the promises it makes to 
servicemembers when they join the military. It improves oversight of 
and fosters accountability at institutions that receive GI Bill 
funding, ensuring that the men and women who put on the uniform of our 
country aren't defrauded by dishonest institutions that fail to set our 
veterans up for success.
  H.R. 3981 is a commonsense, bipartisan bill which came out of our 
committee on a bipartisan basis. It will ensure our veterans and their 
benefits are supported and protected. We have a sacred responsibility 
to look after all Americans, especially those who have sacrificed for 
our country. Any veteran who wants to get an education, an education 
they have earned, should be able to do so without fear of being 
defrauded, losing their benefits, or being left behind.
  Every man and woman who puts on a uniform is willing to risk 
everything to keep us safe. The least we can do is protect them when 
they get home. Veterans earn their GI Bill education benefits, and no 
veteran should lose that benefit to bad actors or fraudulent 
institutions. Not a single one.
  I thank Chairman Bost, Chairman Van Orden, Ranking Members Takano and 
Levin, and all of those involved, for their support of this bill. I ask 
my colleagues to support H.R. 3981.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in 
passing H.R. 3981, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, I encourage the Members on our side the 
aisle and all of our colleagues to support this good piece of 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3981, 
the Isakson-Roe Education Oversight Expansion Act of 2023.
  Members of the armed forces are important to our nation, and we show 
them our appreciation by taking care of them after they have completed 
their service by legislation such as H.R. 3981.
  Many of our nation's veterans have earned federal support to help pay 
for college, graduate school, and training programs through their GI 
Bill education benefits.
  They can even transfer unused benefits to family members and do so in 
many cases.
  Unfortunately, some predatory programs have exploited veterans by 
aggressively attracting them and their GI beneits to fraudulent, 
falsified, or substandard programs.
  The comprehensive Isakson-Roe Education Oversight Expansion Act would 
seek to rein in these abuses by increasing the Department of Veterans 
Affairs oversight capacity.
  Additionally, it would look to restore benefits to defrauded 
veterans, and improve oversight, faster accountability, and most of 
all, help our veterans access the quality education they have earned.
  Similarly, H.R. 3981 would require educational institutions that 
offer certain courses to people who are eligible for educational 
bene6ts administered by the VA.
  Reportable events would include punitive actions by state or federal 
agencies, heightened monitoring of federal student aid, and the 
potential loss of accreditation.
  Institutions that fail to report those events would become ineligible 
to receive benefit payments from the VA.
  Unfortunately, our nation's recognition of those who served in 
subsequent conflicts has been less than adequate.
  We have, in recent decades, too often failed to overcome our 
political differences to recognize the truly remarkable achievements of 
our courageous veterans.
  We must be united in seeing that every soldier, sailor, airman, and 
marine in welcoming them back with all the care and compassion this 
grateful nation can bestow.
  Our nation has a proud legacy of appreciation and commitment to the 
men and women who have worn the uniform in defense of this country.
  Veterans continue to have many unanswered needs, and I will continue 
to fight for the rights of our most patriotic Americans.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 3981, 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. BOST. Madam 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.

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