Veteran Education Benefits in Limbo
One-hundred thousand dollars. That is how much financial aid servicemembers are eligible to receive once they have served at least 36 months of active-duty service in the military.
This aid includes full tuition coverage for public schools or roughly $26,000 annually for private education and apprenticeships. The servicemember also receives a monthly housing allowance, which varies by location, plus $1,000 annually to cover books and other school supplies. Add that up, and we’re talking about a tab that clocks in well over $100,000 worth of education benefits.
The promise of generous education benefits has, for years, served as a useful tool to recruit America’s best and brightest to military service. Now, thanks to President Biden’s divisive and potentially unlawful vaccine mandate, thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Guardians will be at risk of losing those same benefits.
On August 24, 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a directive requiring mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for all servicemembers, including those in the Ready Reserve, and the National Guard. Despite the challenges this vaccine mandate currently faces in court, the Defense Department has proceeded to involuntarily discharge those who refuse the vaccine. This leaves many veterans in limbo, knowing that they may have their education benefits stripped away as they are forced out the door.
As many in the veteran community already know, servicemembers who receive a general discharge under honorable conditions are ineligible for both Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI bill benefits. This means a group of veterans who have served honorably up until the point of refusing the COVID-19 vaccine could have their education benefits denied, and their service record diminished. Further complicating these matters, the decision whether to grant a general or honorable discharge is left solely to the servicemember’s commanding officer.
These are men and women who have done their time, who have paid their dues, and who have served with distinction up until the point of refusing this vaccine. Some have over twenty years of service. Others sought a religious exemption that was denied. Some may have even been planning to pass the benefits along to their children.
Congress cannot let this issue fall by the wayside, to do so would be a disservice to our men and women in uniform. That is why I introduced H.R. 6671, the Vaccine Discharge Parity Act, to ensure servicemembers can utilize the education benefits they have worked so hard to earn.
This legislation would amend Title 38, U.S. Code, so that a member of the Armed Forces who receives a general discharge under honorable conditions on the sole basis of refusing the COVID-19 vaccine remains eligible for G.I. bill education benefits. This proposal is
straightforward and merits support from anyone who considers themselves an advocate for our nation’s veterans.
This is an issue that has garnered wide support among Wisconsinites in the Fifth Congressional District, and I’m proud to report that this legislation has already received the support of House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mike Bost (IL-12).
We are a country that rewards our heroes, not punishes them, and my bill will make sure of that.