"Surviving families of veterans have already given so much to our nation," said Durbin. "We need to give the widowed spouses and children a helping hand."

Under current law, a surviving spouse or dependent only receives financial assistance from the federal government if they attend college or a trade school on a full-time basis. Those who comply with these rules receive a maximum benefit of roughly $38,000. Durbin's legislation would eliminate the rule requiring that the survivor be enrolled in school full-time and would increase the benefit to $80,000. Benefits could be used towards a variety of educational assistance programs, including degree and certificate programs, apprenticeships, on-the-job training, institutional courses, correspondence courses, special educational assistance and farm cooperative programs.

To be eligible for these benefits one must be the son, daughter, or spouse of a: service member missing in action or captured in line of duty by a hostile force, a service member forcibly detained or interned in line of duty by a foreign government or power, a veteran who died or is permanently and totally disabled as the result of a service-connected disability. The disability must arise out of active service in the Armed Forces, or a veteran who died from any cause while such service-connected disability was in existence.