By Patrick Yoest, CQ Staff

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel K. Akaka has asked the Veterans Affairs Department to halt collection of unused educational benefits from families of service members killed in action.

In a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake on Feb. 14, Akaka, D-Hawaii, asked the VA to "suspend any collection activity involving indebtedness by service members who have died in combat or in training for combat since September 11, 2001."

He acted in response to reports that the department has tried to collect more than $56,000 in unused benefits -mostly educational benefits - from relatives of 22 dead soldiers.

Department spokeswoman Alison Aikele said, "There is no official order of a moratorium on collecting those debts, but those collections can be waived by the VA in these types of situations.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, has introduced legislation (S 2550) that would mandate debt forgiveness for unused benefits of service members killed in a combat zone, except benefits related to housing and small businesses.

Hutchison attempted to bypass the committee process to get the bill passed by unanimous consent Thursday, but Akaka wants to hold a hearing on the issue before passing any legislation. He has scheduled one for May 7.

Akaka said Friday that he wants to carefully examine Hutchison's proposal and also see if the department will halt the collections on its own.

Hutchison spokesman Matt Mackowiak said, "We're disappointed that the Senate missed an opportunity to pass this common sense, [Veterans of Foreign Wars]-endorsed legislation, but Sen. Hutchison will keep working."

Hutchison has pointed to several attempts to collect payment on unused educational benefits, including one in which the family of an Army sergeant killed by a bomb explosion in Iraq had to pay back $2,282 in unused student loans. The sergeant was survived by a wife and four children.

But Akaka said he wanted to avoid unintended problems with legislation that might be too broad. He said he agreed with VA concerns that "debts incurred through fraud or bad faith should not be waived or forgiven." He asked Peake to report on collections of benefits incurred through fraud and "how a determination would be made regarding the existence of fraud or bad faith."