Senators press Gates on improving GI Bill

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An effort by Democratic Sen. Jim Webb, left, to give post-Sept. 11 veterans vastly expanded education benefits gained a powerful ally Feb. 6 when Republican Sen. John Warner, right, reached across the aisle to lend his support.


Senators press Gates on improving GI Bill
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 6, 2008 21:03:55 EST

An effort by Sen. James Webb, D-Va., to give post-Sept. 11 veterans vastly expanded education benefits gained a powerful ally Wednesday when Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia reached across the aisle to lend his support.

Last year, Webb introduced legislation calling for a new GI Bill that mirrors the generous post-World War II version that paid for veterans’ tuition, books and fees, and provided a monthly stipend and covered other training costs. That program was credited with transforming American society; the number of high school graduates attending college increased fivefold after World War II.

Webb says that today’s heavily tasked vets deserve better education benefits than they currently have under the Montgomery GI Bill and that an improved bill would be a powerful recruiting tool.

“I would suggest and hope that we can take a look at it soon to try to get something through this year,” Webb told Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department’s fiscal 2009 budget request.

“We’ve been working on it for a year,” Webb said. “We’ve been trying to get the other side to understand that this is not a political issue, it’s an issue rewarding service. And all we’re saying is try to give the same thing that we gave these people coming out of World War II. For every dollar that was spent on their education, we got $7 back in tax receipts because we increased the value of their professional lives. So I would hope we could work on a pretty rapid manner on this.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/military_webb_warner_gibill_080206w/