Protect the Gi Bill Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, I thank the ranking member and the chairman. I appreciate them working with us on this very good bill. Also, Chairman Levin, who is not here at the time, does an outstanding job, and I look forward to working with him on many more bills.

Madam Speaker, as Ranking Member Roe just mentioned, one of the most important jobs of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs is defending and protecting programs like the GI Bill that continue to provide life- changing education and training benefits to our Nation's veterans and servicemembers. I am proud that provisions in H.R. 4625 will continue this goal and are a byproduct of several bipartisan hearings that I have led with Chairman Levin to improve oversight of the GI Bill.

I am also pleased that this package includes all the provisions from my bill, H.R. 4085, the Student Veteran Empowerment Act. My bill is designed to limit overpayment of GI Bill funds to students and schools, improve oversight of the GI Bill program by VA and State approving agencies, and, most importantly, extend the restoration of entitlement for student veterans impacted by school closures.

This last section extends benefits we originally provided to a limited number of students in the Forever GI Bill to all students. It extends to all students; that is important. It is critical to ensure that a student's entitlement is not lost when a school closes or is disapproved before the student completes their education.

My provisions in this bill would make important structural improvements regarding GI Bill oversight and accountability. These changes are important so that we can do all we can to prevent unnecessary school closures and ensure that a student's hard-earned benefits are used on training and education programs that will set up the veteran for long-term economic success.

Again, like Dr. Roe, I thank the veterans service organizations for their advice and suggestions, especially Veterans Education Success.

I also thank the bill's sponsor, as I said before, the chairman of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, my friend from California, Mike Levin. It has been my distinct pleasure, as the ranking member, to work with him on this bill and on other issues that come before our subcommittee. He is a thoughtful legislator, and I thank him for including the provisions of my bill in this legislation before us.

I urge passage of this great bill, H.R. 4625.

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