Student Veteran COVID-19 Protection Act of 2021

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5545) to extend certain expiring provisions of law relating to benefits provided under Department of Veterans Affairs educational assistance programs during COVID-19 pandemic, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 5545, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5545, as amended, the Responsible Education Mitigating Options and Technical Extensions Act, or the REMOTE Act. This bill is an urgent extension of flexibilities for student veterans using their educational assistance benefits as the COVID-19 pandemic wears on.

H.R. 5545, as amended, extends the Student Veteran Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 through the spring 2022 term.

When my Student Veteran Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law in April 2020, I am not sure many of us would have foreseen that 19 months later the COVID-19 pandemic would still affect everyday life for veterans and their families across the country.

And since then, we have extended these flexibilities for student veterans three times as the pandemic remains a public health emergency throughout the country and the world. Still, many college students remain unable to return to campus.

H.R. 5545, as amended, would extend remote learning waivers for student veterans through the spring 2022 term and ensure they will continue receiving full housing benefits despite not taking on-campus courses.

We have been negotiating this bill with the minority for months and, while this bill is not the exact version that I would prefer, student veterans are simply too important to let these benefits lapse.

A majority of students have already enrolled in their spring classes, having signed up as early as this past October or November. They selected their classes with the hope that we, in Congress, would act to extend these flexibilities through the spring term. We cannot wait any longer to pass this critical piece of legislation for our student veterans.

New cases of the virus are up. There is a new variant, leading some States to declare a new state of emergency, and it is clear, COVID-19 is not behind us. The emergency persists, and we cannot walk away from our duty to assist student veterans now.

Without this legislation, student veterans who planned and started out the school year remotely--reasonably thinking they would be able to stay in status for the entire school year--will have to figure out a plan to get back to taking on-campus classes in order to receive their monthly allowance for housing.

This legislation is to address this specific emergency now. This is not setting precedent for any future emergencies, nor is it setting a standard for treating future education terms impacted by COVID-19.

Should we have to extend these provisions again next year, we should use the same emergency designations we have used three times in the past. We know these provisions are not for new benefits. They are to maintain existing benefits and existing spending.

Additionally, this bill ensures student bodies at U.S. universities remain diverse and allows for the continued recruitment of foreign students. It also simplifies the verification process for tuition reimbursement for certain educational institutions to minimize unneeded paperwork for student veterans.

Student veterans should be able to focus on their studies, not on whether they are going to receive their earned VA benefits. And that is why I introduced this bill, with my House Veterans' Affairs Committee colleagues, Representative Trone and Representative Mike Levin, to ease the burden on student veterans during these persistently uncertain times.

Now, this legislation is endorsed by numerous VSOs, such as the Student Veterans of America, the American Legion, the VFW, American Council on Education, Tragedy Assistance for Survivors, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the National Association of Veterans' Program Administrators, and countless others.

Finally, the legislation includes an additional provision from Representatives Lamb and Mann. The text of this section of the bill would help the Department address diversity and equity within the workforce. It removes a 1997 law that limits the number of VA counselors who can advise employees on equal employment opportunity issues.

VA has roughly doubled in size since 1997, and VA requested for this limit to be removed to allow the Department to hire additional counselors to support the needs of a growing workforce and help ensure that VA is a welcoming place for all employees.

I wish to thank Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer for bringing this legislation to the floor; and I urge the rest of my colleagues to support this legislation to ensure student veterans are able to access the benefits they have earned and continue their studies during the spring semester.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Trone), my good friend and the author of H.R. 5545, as amended. He is a member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and an active member on the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the work and cooperation of the ranking member, and I appreciate that he stands squarely behind this legislation.

What is at stake at the very end of this year is the housing of our Nation's student veterans, numbering in the tens of thousands. We need swift passage of this bill and the companion bill in the Senate.

I urge all Members of the House to support this bill, and I urge our Senate colleagues to act on this expeditiously.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 5545, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5545, as amended, the REMOTE Act. I am pleased to support this bill, which is very similar to my bill, H.R. 5509, the Student Veteran COVID-19 Protection Act of 2021. This bill will help address urgent needs of student veterans who are impacted by COVID-19.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Congress worked to ensure that student veterans' GI bill housing allowance payments were not cut when in-person classes were moved online.

The current authorization for this protection expires on December 21, 2021. H.R. 5545, as amended, would extend it through June 1 of 2021. This would provide veterans and schools with the certainty that students will not see a reduction in their monthly housing checks this school year.

The bill also includes changes to ensure that GI bill students can attend foreign schools and give American schools time to comply with new consumer protection rules.

It includes a change to the VA's rounding-out policy to allow students to retain their full monthly housing allowance, even if they finish their program-required coursework early.

Finally, it also includes language sponsored by Congressman Lamb and Congressman Mann to remove the cap on the equal employment opportunity counselors at the VA. There is no place for discrimination at the VA. I am pleased that we can, once again, pass this important provision to help employees avail themselves of their right for a safe workplace.

The costs of this bill are fully paid for by extending current VA home loan funding fees for a few months into 2030. This is a bipartisan offset that has been used multiple times in previous Congresses.

This issue of whether to offset the estimated $220 million mandatory costs associated with this bill has been an issue of disagreement for many weeks, and I want to thank Chairman Takano for working with me and finding a mutually beneficial solution that is paid for and can quickly pass the Senate. This is win for the veterans, schools, and taxpayers alike.

In the vast majority of circumstances, I strongly believe that Congress should do our job and pay for this new spending. We have a responsibility to pay for our bills, just like every American does. However, that does not mean that I will not consider the use of emergency spending when it is appropriate and necessary in the future as new emergencies may arise.

Before I close, I would like to thank the dozens of higher education groups and veterans service organizations that have advocated for the passage of this needed extension and reform.

I want to especially thank the American Council on Education and the Student Veterans of America for their continued support for this fully paid for legislation. They understand that if these changes are not made soon, many schools will be forced to stop accepting students who are using the GI Bill. I agree with them that such an outcome is simply unacceptable.

While I wish we could have enacted these protections weeks ago, I am glad we are taking care of them today on a bipartisan basis that protects veterans and taxpayers alike.

I, again, want to thank Chairman Takano for working with me and others on this issue, as well as our colleagues, Senators Tester and Moran, for their support.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to let everyone know that I am very much in support of this legislation. I encourage my colleagues to support it as well, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our bill, the REMOTE Learning Act, to protect veterans' education benefits.

Last year, Congress prevented cuts to veterans' tuition payments as students transitioned to online learning. This helped folks stay in school during the pandemic, which remains one of the most challenging times to pursue higher education.

Unfortunately, these benefits are at risk once again. By law, the Department of Veterans Affairs is required to cut housing benefits for student veterans who are taking classes remotely. This doesn't make sense during a global pandemic.

While some colleges and professors have chosen to keep classes remote, many student veterans have opted to live on campus. We need to act now to ensure our veterans receive the necessary flexibility to achieve academic success.

The REMOTE Learning Act will extend remote learning waivers, ensure veterans receive full housing benefits, allow universities to continue recruiting foreign students so that student bodies can remain diverse, and minimize paperwork for tuition reimbursement.

Our veterans deserve a world-class education. They deserve to earn their degrees on time. Some of these brave servicemembers have waited their whole lives to get their degrees. The negative effects of the pandemic shouldn't hinder them from doing that. We have a responsibility to help.

I want to thank Chairman Takano and Chairman Levin for their leadership on this bill and for all the hard work they have done to protect our veterans. It is time to pass this bill and give the veterans the benefits they have earned.