Protect the Gi Bill Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I thank Chairman Takano, Ranking Member Roe, and members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for their steadfast commitment to the men and women of our armed services and for their work on H.R. 4625, the Protect the GI Bill Act.

Included in this bill is legislation of mine that I have been working on with Representative McMorris Rodgers for some years now to remedy the bureaucratic oversight affecting military families across the country.

Under current law, the Department of Defense includes wards and foster children in their definition of an ``eligible child'' who is authorized to receive their parents' unused GI education benefits. However, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not. Unfortunately, this misalignment has led to a nightmare for some members of the armed services and their families.

This issue first came to my attention when a constituent, Sergeant First Class Angela Dees, and her son, Christopher, reached out to my office to share their story.

Regrettably, their story is not unique, and they are not alone. To date, nearly 100 wards and foster children were initially approved by the Department of Defense for the transfer of GI education benefits, and money was paid out to their schools. Then, midsemester, the Department of Veterans Affairs revoked their benefits. The students and their families were notified that they would have to repay tuition expenses.

These families now face unexpected and crippling debts. They aren't just stuck with bigger loan payments but with outstanding bills. In many cases, the students even had to drop out of school.

Children of the men and women who serve honorably should not be denied the benefits that they were promised because of bureaucratic oversight. These servicemen and -women have honored the promise that they made to serve our country, and we need to honor the promises we make to them.

This legislation would correct this discrepancy and prevent this situation from happening in the future. Doing so would allow foster children and wards like Christopher, who were approved for GI education benefits only to have them revoked, to receive the education funding that they were promised.

I urge my colleagues to join me and vote ``yes'' on this critical piece of legislation.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), my good friend, a tireless working member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I know of no one on our committee who works harder for veterans, whether it is on PTSD or the benefits they have earned, than Gus Bilirakis.

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