Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank Chairman Takano, Ranking Member Roe, and members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for their steadfast commitment to the men and women of our armed services and for their work on H.R. 4625, the Protect the GI Bill Act. Included in this bill is legislation of mine that I have been working on with Representative McMorris Rodgers for some years now to remedy the bureaucratic oversight affecting military families across the country. Under current law, the Department of Defense includes wards and foster children in their definition of an ``eligible child'' who is authorized to receive their parents' unused GI education benefits. However, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not. Unfortunately, this misalignment has led to a nightmare for some members of the armed services and their families. This issue first came to my attention when a constituent, Sergeant First Class Angela Dees, and her son, Christopher, reached out to my office to share their story. Regrettably, their story is not unique, and they are not alone. To date, nearly 100 wards and foster children were initially approved by the Department of Defense for the transfer of GI education benefits, and money was paid out to their schools. Then, midsemester, the Department of Veterans Affairs revoked their benefits. The students and their families were notified that they would have to repay tuition expenses.…”