Courtney Secures Delay Of Impending Restrictions On Post-9/11 G.I. Bill

Statement

Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) today announced that the Department of Defense (DOD) will delay implementation of new restrictions on Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. The announcement came in response to a letter Courtney sent Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in June urging him to delay a policy change due to go into effect on July 12th that would prevent servicemembers with greater than 16 years of service from transferring their Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits to eligible family members.

"This is a welcome decision by the department to slow down implementation of a policy that will unfairly affect some of our most seasoned servicemembers. It is clear that our letter sent a strong message that DOD should give Congress time to consider my amendment to the NDAA which would block this restriction from going into effect entirely. I look forward to working with members of the House as we consider NDAA on the floor next week and with the Senate in the months ahead to protect retention benefits for post-9/11 servicemembers."

The policy change restricting servicemembers with more than 16 years of service form transferring their Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits was set to take place on July 12, 2019. DOD announced in a letter to Courtney dated July 3, 2019 that implementation of the new restriction has been delayed by six months to January 12, 2020 while Congress completes its work on the Fiscal Year 2020 NDAA. The defense authorization bill as passed by the House Armed Services Committee includes a Courtney-authored amendment unanimously adopted by the panel to block these changes.

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