H.R. 3218: Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017

115th Congress · introduced 2017-07-13 · Armed Forces and National Security · Latest: Signed by President.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-07-13 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Roe, David P. [R-TN-1] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: 1 recorded vote in our records. Latest: House roll call 409 (2017): On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended, HR3218 (2017-07-24), Passed. See all
Where it stands now: Signed by President. (final step reached)
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017

Plain summary

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) .

Congressional Research Service summary (Public Law), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

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If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Public Law)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Roe, David P. [R-TN-1] · 121 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: H.R. 3218, Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (2017-08-02); CBO cost estimate: H.R. 3218, Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (2017-09-06)

Cosponsors on this site

John H. Rutherford (R-FL), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Jim Banks (R-IN), Jodey C. Arrington (R-TX), Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-AS), Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mike Bost (R-IL), Neal P. Dunn (R-FL), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL), Scott H. Peters (D-CA), Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), Mark Takano (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), J. Luis Correa (D-CA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and 61 more.

Recorded votes

House roll call 409 (2017): On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended, HR3218 (2017-07-24): Passed

Words on this page, explained (3)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Statute: A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Public Law)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115hr3218.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/hr>

Record fed-us-cong115-hr3218 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115