[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11493]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           VETERANS EDUCATION BENEFITS SHOULD BE TRANSFERABLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Idaho (Mr. Labrador) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LABRADOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of an amazing Idaho 
family which has taken a horrible personal tragedy and turned it into a 
cause that will benefit many other families in the years to come. I am 
referring to the family of Shauna Hill, a 16-year-old girl who lived in 
Eagle, Idaho, in my district, and who tragically lost her life in 2012.
  At the time of her untimely death, Shauna was a junior at Eagle High 
School. She was a competitive figure skater and ice dancer and played 
the violin in her school orchestra. She even performed with the 
orchestra at New York's Carnegie Hall.
  She was also working to qualify for a Congressional Silver Medal for 
public service, personal development, and physical fitness. She aspired 
to attend Stanford University and become a doctor. Sadly, she lost her 
life in a car accident on her way home from orchestra practice.
  I first met Shauna's parents, Captain Edward Hill and his wife, 
Heidi, in 2013, when I helped present them with the Congressional 
Bronze Medal their daughter had earned. While presenting the award, I 
learned that Captain Hill, who served 28 years as a Navy pilot and flew 
to protect America during three combat tours, had retired shortly 
before Shauna's death.
  Following the tragedy, Captain Hill was working with the Navy to try 
to reassign his benefits to his second child, Haley, who was also 
planning to attend college. With almost 3 decades of distinguished 
service, Captain Hill qualified for the full utilization of the 
education benefit, but the Navy said Haley wasn't eligible because 
education benefits under the GI bill cannot be reassigned.
  The Hills asked for my help, and my staff got to work. Unfortunately, 
we found out that the Navy's hands were tied. Current law does not 
allow the transfer of education benefits after a servicemember has 
retired. No waivers are permitted, even in such tragic circumstances.
  I promised the Hills that I would seek a legislative solution. In 
February of this year, I introduced H.R. 1112, the Shauna Hill Post 9/
11 Education Benefits Transferability Act. This bill would permit the 
reassignment of veterans' education benefits in cases where the 
designated beneficiary passes away.
  Losing a child is the worst thing I can imagine, and surely Congress 
didn't intend to exclude the ability to transfer benefits to a 
surviving child or spouse.
  The bill I introduced would correct this oversight, and it has 
received support from many veterans' groups. These include: the 
Concerned Veterans for America, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, 
the Student Veterans of America, AMVETS, the Air Force Sergeants 
Association, the Association of the United States Navy, and the 
National Military Family Association.
  This month, VA Committee Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz 
included my bill in the bipartisan GI Bill, the Harry W. Colmery 
Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2017. This bill passed the House 
last night, and I was proud to join my colleagues in voting for it.
  I am grateful to Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz for including 
my bill in their legislation. I am also thankful to Senator Crapo, who 
has introduced companion legislation in the Senate. Now that the House 
has acted, it is my hope that the Senate will act too and, from there, 
our bill can be signed into law.
  This legislation will mean a great deal to the Hills. It will be a 
great comfort to them and all those who have experienced such a 
terrible loss. As a grateful nation, it is the least that we can do, 
and America must always be a grateful nation.
  The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2017 keeps 
our promises to our veterans and their families, especially when they 
need it the most.

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