[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15365]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      MONTGOMERY GI BILL BENEFITS

  (Mr. MATHESON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, I want to bring to the Congress' attention 
what I have determined to be a loophole in the Montgomery GI bill 
education benefits.
  I have a local Marine reserve unit in Utah, Fox Company. They have 
served two different tours of active duty since September 11. One 
member was killed in Iraq, several sustained injuries. And yet when 
they returned after their second tour of duty and applied for 
Montgomery GI bill education benefits, they were denied because they 
did not put in 24 consecutive months.
  This is clearly not what was anticipated when the bill was first 
written; and yet now with our reliance on Guard and Reserve, this 
circumstance is going to repeat itself more and more.
  The gentlewoman from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson) and I earlier this year 
introduced H.R. 772, which will close this loophole. It will allow our 
soldiers who put in 24 months of consecutive duty within a 5-year 
period to qualify for full Montgomery GI bill education benefits. This 
is the right thing to do. It is not a partisan issue. I urge all of my 
colleagues to join me in cosponsoring H.R. 722.

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