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Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017

Public Law 115-48 · H.R. 3218 · 115th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Aug 16, 2017 · Armed Forces and National Security

Sponsor: Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN-1)

Cosponsors (121): Rep. Timothy Walz,

Passage votesYeaNay

  • HouseRecorded vote: 405 yea, 0 nay405–0
  • SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017

This bill revises education and related benefits provided to veterans, service members, dependents, and survivors.

The bill amends the Post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to:

• remove certain time restrictions on program use;

• increase assistance for reservists, guardsmen, dependents, and surviving spouses and dependents;

• provide full eligibility for Post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients and certain reservists and guardsmen;

• provide an extra academic years' worth of benefits for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree candidates;

• establish a five-year pilot program for high technology courses;

• restore eligibility for service members whose school closes in the middle of a semester;

• authorize funding to improve claims processing;

• permit assistance to be used at certain institutions that are not institutions of higher education; and

• pro-rate the housing stipend for reservists called to active duty.

The bill authorizes the Edith Nurse Rogers STEM Scholarship to help veterans complete STEM degrees.

The Yellow Ribbon program is extended to Fry Scholarship recipients (surviving dependents of service members who died on active duty) and certain Purple Heart recipients. (The Yellow Ribbon program helps veterans pay for higher education tuition and fee costs not covered by the Post-9/11 program.)

The bill: (1) extends the Advisory Committee on Education, (2) increases survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, and (3) extends funding for state educational program approving agencies.

The bill provides statutory authority for the VetSuccess on Campus program, which provides veterans with on-campus educational and vocational counseling.

The Department of Veterans Affairs shall make a new determination regarding each denied veteran's claim for disability compensation in connection with full-body exposure to mustard gas or Lewisite at specified locations during World War II and resolve reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran.

For more detailed information, see Congressional Research Service Report R45205, Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-48).

Who voted for it

Every House member of the 115th Congress on the ideology compass. Highlighted: the 405 who voted yea on final passage. Faded: everyone else, including those who voted nay, did not vote, or had not yet taken office.

405 yea0 nay28 present or did not vote

ProEstablishmentAnti
Economic left–right
More liberalMore conservative

Democrats who voted yea(184)

Republicans who voted yea(221)

Data notes

The House’s recorded vote on the final version of the law (roll call 408 in Voteview), matched to the vote the record cites and checked against its totals. Positions are each member’s DW-NOMINATE score for that Congress, as on the Ideology page; left to right is more liberal to more conservative. Paired and announced yea votes count as yea. Lists follow the compass, most liberal first. A name links to a profile only for members of the current Congress. A law passed by voice vote or unanimous consent has no member list, and neither does a vote Voteview has not yet recorded.

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Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Related bills

18 bills the Library of Congress relates to this one.

  • H.R. 245Related bill

    Veterans' Education Equity Act

  • H.R. 925Related bill

    To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the eligibility for monthly stipends paid under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program for certain members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces.

  • H.R. 1104Related bill

    Veterans To Enhance Studies Through Accessibility Act

  • H.R. 1112Related bill

    Shauna Hill Post 9/11 Education Benefits Transferability Act

  • H.R. 1391Related bill

    Veterans Success on Campus Act of 2017

  • H.R. 1956Related bill

    Caring for the Families of our Wounded and Fallen Heroes Act

  • H.R. 1994Related bill

    VETERAN Act

  • H.R. 2099Related bill

    GI Bill Fairness Act of 2017

  • H.R. 2108Related bill

    GI Bill STEM Extension Act of 2017

  • H.R. 2257Related bill

    Guard and Reservists Education Improvement Act

  • H.R. 3205Related bill

    Veterans' Advisory Committee on Education Reauthorization Act of 2017

  • H.R. 3370Related bill

    Fry Scholarship Enhancement Act

  • H.R. 3372Related bill

    To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the restoration of entitlement to educational assistance and other relief for veterans affected by school closure or disapproval, and for other purposes.

  • S. 410Related bill

    Shawna Hill Post 9/11 Education Benefits Transferability Act

  • S. 1192Related bill

    Veterans TEST Accessibility Act

  • S. 1362Related bill

    Guard and Reservists Education Improvement Act

  • S. 1555Related bill

    Veterans Education Experience Improvement Act of 2017

  • S. 1598Related bill

    Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017

Data notes

Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 23 actions.

  1. Aug 16, 2017Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  2. Aug 7, 2017FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  3. Aug 3, 2017FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  4. Aug 2, 2017FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  5. Jul 26, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
  6. Jul 25, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate, read twice.
  7. Jul 24, 2017FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  8. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 405 - 0 (Roll no. 409).House roll call 409
  9. FloorFloor · Considered as unfinished business.
  10. FloorFloor · At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  11. FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 3218.
  12. FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
  13. FloorFloor · Mr. Roe (TN) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  14. CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 179.
  15. CommitteeCommittee · Committee on Armed Services discharged.
  16. CommitteeCommittee · Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. H. Rept. 115-247, Part I.
  17. Jul 19, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  18. CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  19. Jul 17, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Committee Hearings Held.
  20. CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by House Veterans' Affairs Committee
  21. Jul 13, 2017CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.
  22. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  23. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes

Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.

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Amendments

No amendments to this bill are on record.

Data notes

Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.

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Official record

The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.