Repayment of Members of the Armed Forces for Contributions Toward Post- Educational Assistance

Floor Speech

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Mr. BANKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding, and I appreciate his leadership on all issues related to our veterans in this great country. I appreciate the comments from the ranking member, as well, and his leadership of this committee over the last few years, too.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation is simple. It closes an unintentional loophole in the law that hurts many of our Nation's veterans. It would equalize the treatment of servicemembers and veterans who paid into the Montgomery GI Bill, or the MGIB, but later used the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Presently, veterans may choose between the MGIB and the Post-9/11 GI Bill, both of which help pay for their education.

The MGIB requires a $100 monthly fee for the first 12 months of Active Duty. The quirk is that $1,200 is then refunded to servicemembers only as an attachment to their housing allowance. For veterans who do not receive a housing allowance from the VA, they also haven't been receiving the $1,200 that they are entitled to.

This is a complicated issue that no one ever intended to happen, but this bill closes the loophole by directing the VA to make the repayment before the servicemember exhausts their education assistance.

I appreciate the support for the bill. I hope that the people's House will pass it today so that we can fix this unintentional problem and do something important to help our veterans.

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