Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of an amazing Idaho family which has taken a horrible personal tragedy and turned it into a cause that will benefit many other families in the years to come. I am…
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of an amazing Idaho family which has taken a horrible personal tragedy and turned it into a cause that will benefit many other families in the years to come. I am referring to the family of Shauna Hill, a 16-year-old girl who lived in Eagle, Idaho, in my district, and who tragically lost her life in 2012.
At the time of her untimely death, Shauna was a junior at Eagle High School. She was a competitive figure skater and ice dancer and played the violin in her school orchestra. She even performed with the orchestra at New York's Carnegie Hall.
She was also working to qualify for a Congressional Silver Medal for public service, personal development, and physical fitness. She aspired to attend Stanford University and become a doctor. Sadly, she lost her life in a car accident on her way home from orchestra practice.
I first met Shauna's parents, Captain Edward Hill and his wife, Heidi, in 2013, when I helped present them with the Congressional Bronze Medal their daughter had earned. While presenting the award, I learned that Captain Hill, who served 28 years as a Navy pilot and flew to protect America during three combat tours, had retired shortly before Shauna's death.
Following the tragedy, Captain Hill was working with the Navy to try to reassign his benefits to his second child, Haley, who was also planning to attend college. With almost 3 decades of distinguished service, Captain Hill qualified for the full utilization of the education benefit, but the Navy said Haley wasn't eligible because education benefits under the GI bill cannot be reassigned.
The Hills asked for my help, and my staff got to work. Unfortunately, we found out that the Navy's hands were tied. Current law does not allow the transfer of education benefits after a servicemember has retired. No waivers are permitted, even in such tragic circumstances.
I promised the Hills that I would seek a legislative solution. In February of this year, I introduced H.R. 1112, the Shauna Hill Post 9/ 11 Education Benefits Transferability Act. This bill would permit the reassignment of veterans' education benefits in cases where the designated beneficiary passes away.
Losing a child is the worst thing I can imagine, and surely Congress didn't intend to exclude the ability to transfer benefits to a surviving child or spouse.
The bill I introduced would correct this oversight, and it has received support from many veterans' groups. These include: the Concerned Veterans for America, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Student Veterans of America, AMVETS, the Air Force Sergeants Association, the Association of the United States Navy, and the National Military Family Association.
This month, VA Committee Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz included my bill in the bipartisan GI Bill, the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2017. This bill passed the House last night, and I was proud to join my colleagues in voting for it.
I am grateful to Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz for including my bill in their legislation. I am also thankful to Senator Crapo, who has introduced companion legislation in the Senate. Now that the House has acted, it is my hope that the Senate will act too and, from there, our bill can be signed into law.
This legislation will mean a great deal to the Hills. It will be a great comfort to them and all those who have experienced such a terrible loss. As a grateful nation, it is the least that we can do, and America must always be a grateful nation.
The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2017 keeps our promises to our veterans and their families, especially when they need it the most.
