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Klobuchar Introduces Bill to Ensure Soldiers Receive the Education Benefits They Deserve

Bill will provide education benefits to National Guard and Reserve Soldiers based on length of Active Duty service

October 4, 2007

Washington, D.C. – Today Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced the “National Guard and Reserve Education Benefit Fairness Act” to provide educational benefits to members of the Selected Reserve based on the length of their actual Active Duty service, not the service date printed on their orders.  The bill comes as a direct response to the case of the Minnesota National Guard members of the 1/34th Brigade Combat Team, in which about half of the soldiers returning from a 16-month deployment in Iraq were denied full educational benefit packages.

“Our promises to our nation’s soldiers shouldn’t be wrapped in red tape,” said Klobuchar. “What has happened to our Minnesota “Red Bulls” should never happen to another returning unit.  Many of these soldiers have put their education on hold, their lives on hold, and their families on hold to honor their duty and serve our nation. By awarding these benefits, we’re doing something for them in return.”

While soldiers in the Minnesota National Guard's 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division all exceeded the 20-month Active Duty mobilization requirement, nearly half weren’t eligible for benefits because they failed to meet eligibility guidelines – some by just one day.

Klobuchar’s bill would eliminate the 730-day order requirement for members of the Selected Reserve, and would make soldiers mobilized to Active Duty for 20 consecutive months after September 11, 2001, who served at least 12 months in a theater of operations, eligible for benefits.

“My bill is simple -- it says we should be repaying our debt to soldiers based on the length of their service, not based on bureaucratic guidelines for processing orders,” said Klobuchar. “Minnesota Guard members, and their fellow Guard and Reserve soldiers around the nation, have made unprecedented sacrifices in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are asked to serve as Active Duty soldiers on the battlefield, and they should be eligible for Active Duty service benefits when they return home.”

This summer Klobuchar wrote a letter to Army Secretary Geren about the 1/34th BCT case. Geren has said the National Guard soldiers’ cases will be reviewed on an expedited basis.

Klobuchar is also co-sponsor of the Total Force Educational Assistance Enhancement and Integration Act, which would provide more equitable educational benefits to the Selected Reserve (National Guard members and Reservists who are most ready and first to be mobilized). 

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