{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://messer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=687", "Rep. Messer Discusses Impact of GI Bill Reform at Veterans Roundtable", "2017-11-13", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "IN", "Luke Messer", "M001189", "messer.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "GREENFIELD, Ind.  (Monday, Nov. 13, 2017) \u2014 U.S. Rep. Luke Messer (IN-06) held a veterans roundtable in Greenfield today to discuss a new law, which takes effect tomorrow, that will restore GI Bill benefits to veterans who were attending ITT Technical Institute when it closed last fall.\r\n          share:\r\n          f \r\n          t \r\n        \r\n      \r\n      GREENFIELD, Ind. \u00a0(Monday, Nov. 13, 2017) \u2014 U.S. Rep. Luke Messer (IN-06) held a veterans roundtable in Greenfield today\u00a0to discuss a new law, which takes effect\u00a0tomorrow,\u00a0that will restore GI Bill benefits to veterans who were attending ITT Technical Institute when it closed last fall.\r\nMore than 7,000 veterans nationwide were impacted by ITT Tech's closure. Messer\u2019s provision, which was signed into law by President Trump in August, restores benefits to these veterans if they were unable to transfer their credits to a different institution. The new law also applies to veterans impacted by future school closures.\u00a0\r\n\u201cWhen ITT Tech closed its doors, thousands of veterans were left with no degree or path forward,\u201d\u00a0Messer\u00a0said. \u201cOur servicemen and women count on these benefits to help them start a career and build a life after serving our country. The least we could do was make sure they got that chance.\u201d\r\nMesser was joined at the roundtable by Jason Nyikos, a U.S. Navy veteran from Greenfield who had to start his degree completely from scratch after spending two years at ITT Tech.\u00a0\u00a0Representatives from Veterans Education Success, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans Upward Bound in Richmond and the IUPUI chapter of Student Veterans of America also attended the roundtable, which was held at the Greenfield VFW.\u00a0\r\n\"To spend two years of my life at a place with nothing to show for it was one of the biggest disappointments,\u201d\u00a0Nyikos\u00a0said. \"I'm glad these benefits will be restored and that other veterans won't have to go through this in the future.\"\r\nVeterans Education Success helped organize the event.\r\n\"This is a big win for veterans. Not only will this new law help the thousands of veterans who were attending ITT Tech when it closed continue their education, it will help veteran students impacted by school closures in the future,\u201d said\u00a0Sean Marvin, legal director of Veterans Education Success.\r\nFollowing ITT Tech\u2019s closure, Messer\u00a0introduced legislation to restore GI Bill benefits to veterans impacted by school closures, like ITT Tech. In August, President Trump signed this bipartisan legislation\u00a0into law\u00a0as part of a landmark GI Bill reform package.\r\nThe broader GI Bill reform legislation\u00a0eliminates time-based caps on education benefits, allowing veterans to use them whenever they want over their lifetime. It also provides significant increases in GI Bill funding for veterans, surviving spouses and dependents, and allows veterans to take advantage of high technology training. Messer\u2019s provision takes effect\u00a0Tuesday, Nov. 14. The VA plans to\u00a0notify\u00a0those who may qualify for benefit restoration and provide instructions to request restoration of benefits. Veterans can check for updates at the GI Bill webpage\u00a0https://benefits.va.gov/GIBILL/ForeverGIBill.asp\u00a0or call the Education Call Center at\u00a01-888-442-4551.\r\nPhotos for use can be found and downloaded HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://messer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=687"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.533322036266327, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}