Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, himself a veteran of Vietnam, has sponsored a new GI Education Bill to increase the educational assistance for our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Basically, the bill would cover the entire cost of tuition and books as well as room and board. It would also offer a monthly stipend of $1,000 over and above the costs associate with school to ensure that the veterans would not have to work and could concentrate on their studies.
The bill has large bi-partisan support in both houses of Congress. But guess who isn't supporting the GI Bill for the 21st Century. Neither President Bush nor Republican Presidential hopeful (and Vietnam POW) Senator John McCain. They say it would cost too much. They contend that it would hurt retention efforts. Well Mr. President and Honorable Senator, this bill can't possibly cost as much as the wars we are currently fighting. And I imagine that recruitment numbers just might increase as a result of knowing that education benefits would actually cover the cost of higher education.
We made benefits like this available to veterans of WWII. It is the least we can do for this generation of veterans.
