IAVA Encourages Leadership on the GI Bill in the Senate

Senators Bond and McCaskill Vote on Historic GI Bill Tomorrow; Education Funding Would Help Thousands of Missouri Iraq Veterans

May 19, 2008 -- NEW YORK - Tomorrow, May 20th, the Senate is expected to vote on a World War II-style GI Bill for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

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This bipartisan legislation, originally introduced by Senators Jim Webb (D-VA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and John Warner (R-VA), is whole heartedly endorsed by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation's first and largest non-partisan Iraq veterans' organization, and all the leading Veterans Service Organizations.

The need for a new GI Bill is especially apparent in Missouri. More than 10,201 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have already come home to Missouri and are relying on the current, inadequate GI Bill benefits to pay for their education. The "Post 9/11 GI Bill" will bring as much as $58,078,175 in new education benefits for Missouri veterans.

"We are proud to have the support of Senators Bond and McCaskill, two longtime cosponsors of the ‘Post 9/11 GI Bill,'" said Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "We urge all Senators to follow their leadership to ensure our troops and veterans get the education benefits they have earned."

The new GI Bill, included in the domestic spending amendment of the war supplemental funding bill, will substantially increase the educational benefits available to servicemembers who have served since September 11th, 2001. The "Post 9/11 GI Bill" will cover the full cost of an education at any public or equivalently priced private school in the country. It will provide tuition up to the most expensive in-state public school and provide a living and book stipend, so that new veterans can focus on their educations and readjustment to civilian life. It will also offer a more equitable benefit to National Guardsmen and Reservists who serve multiple tours. Furthermore, because the benefits are linked to the rising cost of higher education, the promise of an education to a new enlistee will be kept for years to come.

"As Senators debate the war supplemental, we must ensure that partisan bickering does not compromise the level of support we offer our troops," said Rieckhoff. "Anyone who holds the GI Bill hostage to score political points will have to explain themselves to 1.7 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans waiting for education benefits that actually cover the cost of college."

Source: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)