A Sergeant in the Army, a loving father of four and devoted husband, died during his second tour in Iraq. At the time of his death, he owed the Veterans’ Administration $2,282 from receiving Montgomery GI benefits to attend two different colleges. Another solider, who died on his third tour in Iraq, owed the VA $389 for educational assistance. These are just two of the 22 examples of soldiers killed on duty whose surviving relatives were forced to repay their outstanding educational loans.
This is an injustice and must be remedied immediately. Our deceased Servicemembers gave their lives for this country, and for us to present their grieving families with a collection notice is inexcusable. That is why I cosponsored the commonsense H.R. 5148, the Combat Veterans Debt Elimination Act, which relieves the families from taking on this debt.
We are forever indebted to our deceased veterans, not the other way around. They are our nation’s heroes and we must never forget their bravery and sacrifice. We should not honor these men and women by inflicting additional pain and troubles upon their families. The least we can do is to ensure that their families’ futures are the ones that our soldiers would have wanted — not ones burdened by debt.