Restoring a Promise to Our Veterans
When an American signs the dotted line to join the military, they do so with the understanding that Washington will keep its promises. One of those promises is the G.I. Bill – a commitment to help service members and their families pursue educational opportunities.
When a service member enlists, they get access to GI Bill benefits, including money for qualifying veterans and their family members to cover all or some of the costs for school or training. To incentivize retention in the military, the Department of Defense allows service members the opportunity to transfer their unused education benefits to their spouse or children. After six years of service and a commitment to serve four more, a service member can transfer their benefits to their spouse immediately. However, to transfer benefits to a child, they must complete ten full years of service.
Here’s the problem: thousands of service members have now been denied the opportunity to transfer their G.I. benefits to their children because of politics.
In 2021 and 2022, the Pentagon mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for all military personnel. Many healthy, brave men and women who had made the commitment to continue serving our country were forced to choose between receiving the vaccine, or being involuntarily discharged from the military. These weren’t disciplinary separations, they were honorable Americans who were forced out before they could hit the ten-year mark – and in doing so, they lost the ability to transfer those G.I. benefits to their children.
That was wrong and we are going to fix it.
That’s why I’m proud to introduce the Patriots Over Politics Act – a bill to restore what was taken from these veterans. Under this legislation, any service member who was voluntarily or involuntarily separated from the military between August 24, 2021, and January 10, 2023, will regain the right to transfer their G.I benefits to their children as long as they completed at least six years of service.
This bill corrects an injustice caused by a political decision that never should have interfered with military careers or family futures. We owe our veterans more than just a thank you.
That’s what Patriots Over Politics is all about.
Click here to read the bill.