Congresswoman Ramirez’s Bill to Restore Education Benefits for Defrauded Student Veterans Passes the House with Bipartisan Support

The Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act is progressive freshman Congresswoman Ramirez’s first piece of legislation introduced and passed out of the House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez’s (IL-03) first piece of legislation H.R. 1767, the Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act, passed the House with bipartisan support, 406 votes in favor. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the legislation would begin the process of restoring GI Bill education benefits for student veterans who have been defrauded by an educational institution. The bipartisan H.R. 1767 moves student veterans a step closer to having a comparable restoration process to those that govern the federal benefits of non-veteran students. 

Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chair Mike Bost (R-IL-12), also from the Illinois delegation and who served with Congresswoman Ramirez in the Illinois General Assembly, is a co-sponsor of the legislation. Veterans’ Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Ranking Member Congressman Mike Levin (D-CA-49) is an original cosponsor of the bill.

“During my first term, through my work on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I have made it a priority to advocate for equity for our veterans and to ensure they have access to every benefit and resource they rightfully earned,” said Congresswoman Ramirez. “That work includes protecting them from bad actors seeking to exploit them for their benefits. I am proud that my bill, H.R.1767, the Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act, passed through committee and a floor vote with bipartisan support. H.R. 1767 starts the long overdue process of restoring the GI bill benefits for student veterans who were wrongfully defrauded by for-profit colleges and universities. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to take up this bill without any further delay.”

“As Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, I’m proud to see the Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act pass in the House unanimously,” said Rep. Levin. “Our student veterans sacrificed so much in the name of our country, and we owe it to them to protect their GI Bill education benefits from predatory tactics. I appreciate Congresswoman Ramirez’s work on this bill, and I hope to see it pass the Senate in a bipartisan manner.” 

H.R. 1767 is endorsed by Veterans Education Success. 

“We are pleased that the House of Representatives took an important first step today in providing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with the authority to restore the GI Bill for student veterans who have been defrauded by unscrupulous schools. We look forward to working with the Senate and bicameral negotiators to ensure the new law is not merely a suggestion for the Secretary to consider but instead definitively provides GI Bill restoration to all defrauded veterans. We also look forward to working with the Senate and bicameral negotiators to ensure that the bill covers veterans today who were already cheated out of their GI Bill and provides parity with non-veterans who get their loans discharged by the U.S. Department of Education. The GI Bill is an earned benefit and should be more protected – not less – than Title IV federal student aid programs. We applaud the bipartisan collaboration of the House Veterans Affairs Committee Staff in advancing this measure and thank Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois for her commitment to ensuring student veterans receive the full value they deserve out of their GI Bill,” said William Hubbard, Vice President for Veterans & Military Policy at Veterans Education Success.

In the case an educational institution violated advertising, sales, and enrollment practices, the Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act would:

• provide a VA restoration of entitlement to defrauded veterans, restoring education benefits;
• require the fraudulent educational institution to repay the VA for all educational assistance. 

You can watch the Congresswoman’s floor speech on H.R. 1767 here. 

Bill text available HERE.