[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2253 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2253
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide veterans affected by
closures of educational institutions certain relief and restoration of
educational benefits, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 5, 2015
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Tillis, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Brown, Mr.
Durbin, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Reed, Ms. Warren,
and Mr. Wyden) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide veterans affected by
closures of educational institutions certain relief and restoration of
educational benefits, 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 ``Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Education Relief and Restoration Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF ENTITLEMENT TO EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER
RELIEF FOR VETERANS AFFECTED BY CLOSURES OF EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS.
(a) Educational Assistance.--
(1) In general.--Section 3312 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(d) Discontinuation of Education Due to Closure of Educational
Institution.--
``(1) In general.--Any payment of educational assistance
described in paragraph (2) shall not--
``(A) be charged against any entitlement to
educational assistance of the individual concerned
under this chapter; or
``(B) be counted against the aggregate period for
which section 3695 of this title limits the
individual's receipt of educational assistance under
this chapter.
``(2) Description of payment of educational assistance.--
Subject to paragraph (3), the payment of educational assistance
described in this paragraph is the payment of such assistance
to an individual for pursuit of a course or courses under this
chapter if the Secretary finds that the individual--
``(A) was forced to discontinue such course pursuit
as a result of a permanent closure of an educational
institution; and
``(B) did not receive credit, or lost training
time, toward completion of the program of education
being pursued at the time of such closure.
``(3) Period for which payment not charged.--The period for
which, by reason of this subsection, educational assistance is
not charged against entitlement or counted toward the
applicable aggregate period under section 3695 of this title
shall not exceed the aggregate of--
``(A) the portion of the period of enrollment in
the course or courses from which the individual failed
to receive credit or with respect to which the
individual lost training time, as determined under
paragraph (2)(B), and
``(B) the period by which monthly stipend is
extended under section 3680(a)(2)(B) of this title.''.
(2) Applicability.--Subsection (d) of such section, as
added by paragraph (1), shall apply with respect to courses and
programs of education discontinued as described in subparagraph
(A) or (B) of paragraph (2) of such subsection in fiscal year
2015 or any fiscal year thereafter.
(b) Monthly Housing Stipend.--
(1) In general.--Section 3680(a) of such title is amended--
(A) by striking the matter after paragraph (3)(B);
(B) in paragraph (3), by redesignating
subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii),
respectively;
(C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as
subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively;
(D) in the matter before subparagraph (A), as
redesignated, in the first sentence, by striking
``Payment of'' and inserting ``(1) Except as provided
in paragraph (2), payment of''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph (2):
``(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary may, pursuant to
such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe, continue to pay
allowances to eligible veterans and eligible persons enrolled in
courses set forth in paragraph (1)(A)--
``(A) during periods when schools are temporarily closed
under an established policy based on an Executive order of the
President or due to an emergency situation, except that the
total number of weeks for which allowances may continue to be
so payable in any 12-month period may not exceed four weeks; or
``(B) solely for the purpose of awarding a monthly housing
stipend described in section 3313 of this title, during periods
following a permanent school closure, except that payment of
such a stipend may only be continued until the earlier of--
``(i) the date of the end of the term, quarter, or
semester during which the school closure occurred; and
``(ii) the date that is 4 months after the date of
the school closure.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--Paragraph (1)(C)(ii) of such
section, as redesignated, is amended by striking ``described in
subclause (A) of this clause'' and inserting ``described in
clause (ii)''.
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