Trone, Takano, Levin Introduce Legislation to Protect Education Benefits for Veterans During COVID
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 2021
Contact: Sasha Galbreath, Sasha.Galbreath@mail.house.gov
Trone, Takano, Levin Introduce Legislation to Protect Education Benefits for Veterans During COVID
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Representative David Trone (MD-06), Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (CA-41), and Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Chairman Mike Levin (CA-49) introduced the Responsible Education Mitigating Options and Technical Extensions (REMOTE) Act to protect education benefits for veterans. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress took action to prevent cuts to veterans’ tuition payments as they transitioned to online learning. The REMOTE Act will ensure student veterans can continue receiving their benefits through June 2022.
By law, the Department of Veterans Affairs is required to make significant cuts to the housing benefits afforded to student veterans who are taking classes remotely. Congress must act quickly to ensure our student veterans receive the necessary flexibility to achieve academic success. The REMOTE Learning Act will:
- Extend remote learning waivers for student veterans through the Spring 2022 term;
- Ensure student veterans continue receiving full housing benefits despite participating in remote learning;
- Allow U.S. universities to continue recruiting foreign students and ensure student bodies remain diverse; and
- Simplify the verification process for tuition reimbursement so student veterans minimize unneeded paperwork.
“No one should have to worry about the pandemic negatively impacting their academic progress, especially those who have sacrificed so much to protect this country,” said Congressman David Trone, Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “Our veterans deserve to receive a world-class education and earn their degrees on time. Some of these brave men and women have waited their whole lives to get their college degree, and the pandemic shouldn’t hinder them from doing that.”
“When schools rightly shifted their classes online due to the pandemic, many student veterans saw a major reduction in housing benefits,” said Chairman Takano. “Last year, we passed my emergency Student Veteran Coronavirus Response Act to ensure these student veterans could access the full benefits they earned. I’m glad to support Rep. Trone’s vital legislation to further extend these protections until the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us.”
“Student veterans continue to face significant challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while I’m proud we were able to pass strong and historic bipartisan legislation last year to support them, it’s clear we need to build on that work and extend the protections available to them,” said Chairman Levin. “I’m proud to join Rep. Trone and my colleagues on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee to help ensure veterans can continue to pursue a higher education.”
For bill text, click here.
For bill summary, click here.
This legislation has been endorsed by the American Legion, Disabled Veterans of America (DAV), National Association of Veterans’ Program Administrators (NAVPA), Veterans Education Success (VES), and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Congressman David Trone was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2018 to serve the 6th District of Maryland, which includes all or part of Montgomery, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties. Trone serves on the Appropriations, Veterans’ Affairs, and Joint Economic Committees in the 117th Congress and previously served on the Education and Labor and Foreign Affairs Committees. In Congress, Trone is fighting to make progress on issues that matter to Marylanders, including the mental health and addiction crises, criminal justice reform, and funding for medical research.
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