On Monday, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-AL, partnered with his colleague Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, to co-sponsor the GI Education Benefits Fairness Act, which would extend post-9/11 education benefits to foster children and legal wards.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill provides education benefits to active duty veterans and service members serving after Sept. 10, 2001, and allows for those troops to transfer unused benefits to a spouse or child.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) current law, allows for those benefits to be transferred to a foster child or ward, but the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) does not.

The Jones-backed legislation would alter the definition of an “eligible child” to mimic that of the DOD and allow for foster children and legal wards to access their caregiver’s earned benefits.

Not only would the legislation open these benefits up to children who have previously been denied education benefits under current law, it would provide retroactive pay for students who were previously approved for benefits and had them revoked.

“I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this legislation that will help all military children access the educational benefits their families have earned,” said Jones, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “These brave men and women have sacrificed for our country and we owe them the full benefits they were promised.”

On the same day that Jones signed onto the widely backed benefits legislation, the senator addressed a letter to VA Inspector General Michael Missal requesting a “thorough investigation” into allegations of abuse and neglect towards veterans at the Floyd E. “Tut” Fann State Veterans Home in Huntsville.

According to a press release from Jones’ office, the allegations surfaced last week as former employees of the VA facility reported that staff negligence led to the mistreatment of veterans.

Despite passing a federal inspection last year, the former employees allege that negligence led to bed sores, improper feedings and an inadequate response to a Scabies outbreak.

The facility has a track record of violations dating back to 2013.

“This fact begs the question: was the 2018 inspection of the facility deeply flawed, or was the evaluation intentionally misrepresentative?” Jones asked in the letter. “I am asking that you investigate these allegations and the apparent failures in our inspection process that led to these egregious circumstances in Huntsville. I am committed to working with you and my colleagues in Congress to ensure the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has all resources necessary to fulfill this mission.”