November 7, 2007
VA Committee Seeks to Correct ‘Quirk in Law’ that Prevents Guard/Reserve use of GI Bill
For more information, contact: Brian Lawrence 202-225-3527
Washington, D.C. — Today, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs unanimously approved H.R. 3882, a bipartisan bill that would eliminate an unintended consequence of law that rendered many of the 1/34th Brigade Combat Team of the Minnesota National Guard ineligible for the Montgomery GI Bill.
The problem was discovered when the unit recently completed an extended tour in Iraq. Nearly half of the soldiers’ orders were written in a manner that left them a day or two short of qualifying for the same level of GI Bill benefits as active duty service members. The Army refused to collectively alter the orders to allow the soldiers to qualify, and instead required them to go through the tedious process of applying for correction of their military records. On both sides of the aisle, committee members were adamant about making sure the problem would not reoccur. “I am deeply disappointed in the path the Army has chosen to rectify the problem facing these soldiers,” said John Boozeman (R-Ark.) Boozeman, who is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, also expressed concern that the Department of Defense did not provide the legal basis for its decision despite repeated requests for the information.
“H.R. 3882 will ensure that those who serve the required time on active duty are not prevented from receiving GI Bill benefits,” said Deputy Ranking Member Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) “More importantly, the soldiers from
While the committee is in lockstep on fixing the error, a hurdle remains regarding a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate that bill will be subject to finding a PAYGO offset equal to $30 million over 10 years. Undeterred, the committee made it clear that eliminating the injustice would prevail over any blocks thrown up by CBO.
http://republicans.veterans.house.gov/