WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today announced that the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill she helped introduce to modernize and strengthen the G.I. Bill so North Dakota veterans, Reservists, and their families get the education benefits they earned. The next step is for the president to sign the bill into law.

Currently, many veterans seeking an education are shut out of benefits they ought to receive through the G.I. Bill. By making sure Purple Heart recipients can access the full extent of the G.I. Bill’s support, removing time restrictions limiting when veterans can access their education benefits, and expanding survivors’ benefits, the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act would help make sure all veterans are able to access the benefits they earned by serving and protecting our nation.

“Every veteran and active-duty servicemember, as well as their families, ought to be honored for their service – that’s what the educational opportunities offered through the G.I. Bill are all about,” said Heitkamp. “It’s unfortunate that too many veterans – including Purple Heart recipients, as well as active-duty servicemembers, have been shut out of the benefit of education which they earned. That’s a shame and that’s why I worked with both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to fix the problem. By cutting red-tape like time restrictions that prevent veterans from accessing their educational benefits, we can make sure we are honoring the servicemembers, veterans, and those who fought for our country – as well as standing by our commitment to respect the integrity of the military and those who fight for our freedom.”

“I am very grateful for the passage of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (the “Forever GI Bill”) and wish to thank Senator Heitkamp for her support,” said Nancy Mullen, surviving spouse of WO1 Sean W. Mullen, 5^th SFG(A). “Often the loss of the servicemember also results in the loss of financial security for the surviving spouse. Many military spouses are either unemployed or underemployed and often unable to fully vest in employer provided retirement plans of their own in part due to the frequent moves and unpredictable schedules that come from military life. Now these surviving spouses are the sole breadwinners and caregivers for the family and often have limited employment opportunities. This bill affords additional time and expanded education benefits, opening up opportunities which previously were out of reach. These education benefits will truly be life changing. While no benefits can replace the loss of our loved ones, these benefits will help to provide the tools needed to better provide for ourselves and our families.”

The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act will:

• Allow veterans who are studying science, technology, engineering or math additional benefits if their field of study requires additional credits. 
• Permit members of the National Guard and Reserve who are training, deployed, or undergoing certain medical treatment related to their service to accrue benefits like active duty servicemembers. 
• Allow veterans to use education benefits to pay for education through area career and technical schools and postsecondary vocational institutions. 
• Extend the Yellow Ribbon Enhancement Program, which provides education benefits to survivors of those who died in the line of duty. 
• Transfer benefits to a dependent if a servicemember dies before being able to use them.
• Restore benefits to student veterans who received credits or training from certain educational institutions that subsequently close.
• Reinstate the Reserve Educational Assistance Program for Reservists.
• Prorate licensing and certification benefits, rather than charging veterans a month's worth of benefits.
• Extend full education benefits to recipients of the Purple Heart.
• Provide more on-campus educational and vocational counseling services for veterans.

This bill builds on and includes provisions from bipartisan legislation Heitkamp cosponsored in March, the Reserve Components Benefits Parity Act, to make sure veterans and active-duty servicemembers, like those in the National Guard, are equally honored for their service by ensuring their access to these educational opportunities.

Heitkamp has long fought to guarantee veterans in North Dakota and beyond have access to good jobs when they leave the armed forces. When veterans transition to civilian life, they have a variety of skills and talents from serving in the armed forces—and those skills are major assets in civilian jobs as well.

In July, President Trump signed into law Heitkamp’s bipartisan bill to make sure veterans are prioritized in hiring and training at local and state career law enforcement offices. The new law requires law enforcement agencies receiving federal funds through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to do everything they can to connect veterans with roles in local and state law enforcement agencies as they transition back to civilian life.

In May, Heitkamp and U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) introduced their bipartisan Empowering Federal Employment for Veterans Act to make sure federal agencies do everything they can to connect veterans with jobs that fit their skillsets in the federal government. The bill would require large federal agencies to have full-time advocates for veterans’ employment, and would promote career development for veterans within agencies. Although veterans made up 31 percent of the federal workforce overall in 2015, only 12 percent of workers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and 7 percent of workers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were veterans, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

In 2014, Heitkamp introduced her bipartisan Connect with Veterans Act to better connect new veterans with services, resources, and benefits available in their home communities. The bill would create a directory of contact information for newly-separated veterans to allow local communities, as well as the VA and State Departments of Veterans Affairs, to better connect with veterans and provide them with information about services and other resources.

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