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Dear Friend, The House just passed the Forever G.I. Bill, a sweeping update to veteran's education benefits and the biggest expansion in decades. The package includes my bill to give eligible Purple Heart recipients the full G.I. Bill education benefits they earned through their service, which will help an estimated 660 Purple Heart veterans a year as they transition to civilian life. The bipartisan reforms I worked on with my colleagues on the Veteran's Affairs Committee honors the promise we make to our veterans to help them get
a quality education that will set them up for success.
Honoring Purple Heart VeteransPurple
Heart veterans make some of the most significant sacrifices in service to our
country, but one
of out five Purple Heart veterans do not qualify for
full G.I. Bill education benefits. These heroes fought and bled for us, and my bill gives
them the full education benefits they earned. Whether they use these benefits for college, vocational school, or on-the-job training, expanding educational options will help wounded veterans transition to civilian life. |
Watch Rep. Peters speak during debate of the Forever G.I. Bill. The progress we made this week builds on a history of taking care of our veterans when they return home from active duty. A Brief History of the G.I. BillFollowing World War II, Congress passed The
Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944?more commonly known as
the G.I. Bill?which established hospitals, low-interest
mortgages, and stipends for college and trade school tuitions as a way to
help veterans avoid some of the economic hardships of the WWI generation. The
programs created by the bill aimed to save veterans from the perils of a
devastating war, and also laid the foundation for a system to get veterans the
support and benefits they earned through their service and sacrifice. |
The next major update was the Montgomery G.I. Bill, which expanded the educational programs, institutions and financial support of the post-WWII version and also extended these benefits to the Reserve and National Guard. Montgomery G.I. benefits were also tied to changes in the Consumer Price Index and length of service.
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More
recently, the Post 9-11 G.I. Bill expanded benefits to include housing, books,
and supplies for veterans from the war on terror. It also allowed veterans to
transfer their education benefits to dependents. It eliminated payment
upon enlistment, and
gave veterans 15 years to collect their benefits. Expanding Education for VeteransThe bipartisan work in the Forever G.I. Bill will strengthen
education benefits for veterans today and for generations to come. It ends the 15-year time
limit on using G.I. Bill education benefits for new enlistees, provides greater
parity for National Guardsmen and reservists, and restores benefits to veterans
who attend colleges that shut down in the middle of a semester?including veterans who were disrupted by the ITT Tech and Corinthian closures last
year. The Forever G.I. Bill brings veterans education benefits into the
21st century?giving San Diego veterans greater flexibility to use their
benefits for the educational opportunities they need, when they need
them. I look forward to seeing this bill signed into law and continuing to
improve benefits for our nation's heroes.
Sincerely,
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