After overwhelming bipartisan votes for a new GI Bill in the House and Senate, the White House has reached a compromise with House leadership to pass a new GI bill, modeled after Rep. Mitchell and Rep. Brown-Waite’s H.R. 5740. This WWII style GI bill will renew the social contract with our men and women in uniform and their families. This new GI Bill will not only fully fund the cost of an education, it will also allow servicemembers who stay in the military the opportunity to transfer their education benefits to spouses and their children.

The bipartisan agreement reached by the House Majority and Minority Leaders and endorsed by the White House is just one more shining example of the broad bipartisan support for this new GI Bill.

The best news is that the basic benefit structure of HR 5740 is still completely intact; the only substantive changes involve transferability. The White House’s included proposal for a permanent transferability program breaks down like this:
· Six years of service, coupled with an additional service agreement of at least four years grants up to 36 months transferability. This 10-year commitment is similar to what our transferability amendment would have required for full 36-month transferability.
· Spouses would be eligible to receive transferred benefits after the service member has reached six years.
· To transfer to children, the service member would need to serve 10 years before transferring.
· The Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs may prescribe regulations changing the years of service required.
· There are no reporting requirements to Congress as our pilot program amendment had required.
· They have included language to create similar transferability programs in the three existing GI educational benefit programs as well: Montgomery GI Bill (Ch. 30), Montgomery GI Bill-Select Reserve (1606), and the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (1607).
· This transferability program has apparently been scored at $10 billion over 10 years, bringing the cost of the total package to $62 billion.
· There is no offset for the GI bill, tax or otherwise.

This is a big victory for veterans and their families. We hope to see an overwhelming show of bipartisan Congressional support when this bill comes up for a vote later today.

IAVA received the following letter from Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, one of the original Senate sponsors of the new GI Bill (S.22):Click here to view the original (PDF):

Dear Paul and Friends,

As you know, the Webb-Hagel GI Bill passed both Houses of Congress with overwhelming bi-partisan support. The Senate’s vote last week (75-22) was a big win for us. We could not have made this progress without your organization’s strong support.

Thank you for your commitment and leadership in ensuring that we get this legislation passed and signed into law.

This effort is not over. I will continue to do all I can to see the Webb-Hagel GI Bill become a reality for America’s deserving veterans. Thanks again to you and your colleagues for all your help. We’re getting close!

Best wishes.

Regards,
Chuck Hagel

The GI Bill, originally introduced by Senators Webb, Hagel, Warner and Lautenberg, is one of the single most supported pieces of legislation in Congress right now. It has over 300 cosponsors in the House, and almost 60 in the Senate. It’s also got the support of all the leading Veterans Service Organizations, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and of course IAVA.

But it seems like there are always some naysayers. When it comes to the GI Bill, there’s a small but vocal opposition in Congress who argue that the GI Bill is a threat to retention. Basically, they believe that if a GI Bill benefit is too good, it’ll reward veterans too richly for their service and draw them away from re-enlisting.

It is both shocking and appalling that after seven years of war, anyone thinks an education at one of our nation’s public colleges is more than our troops have earned. It is also profoundly implausible and insulting to argue that the troops who have continued to re-enlist and to serve, even under the incredible strain of multiple combat tours, would suddenly abandon the military in droves.

Opponents of the new GI Bill will tell you the retention issue is a question of national security. It isn’t. It’s a question of money. If these guys were so worried about keeping troops in the military, why not suck it up and just give these troops a pay raise? Or accept that troops who’ve served multiple combat tours deserve a bonus?

In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimated how much it would cost to make up any retention loss: $145 million over five years. A huge number to normal people, but it’s a pittance compared to what we’re already spending on recruiting and retention ($5 billion dollars a year), or what our annual military budget is (around $600 billion a year). In fact, the total cost to make up any drop in recruitment over five years is equal to what we’re spending every TWELVE HOURS in Iraq.

But what really kills me about the retention argument is how short-sighted it is. You can’t retain troops you’ve never recruited in the first place. Since 2004, our military has been struggling to meet recruiting goals. We’re spending $4 billion a year, and we’re having to lower our enlistment standards. In 2007, only 79% of new Army enlistees had a high-school diploma. The maximum age for a new recruit has been raised to 42 from 35. And 12 percent of recruits are receiving waivers for criminal convictions.

We can do better. As Senator Webb, former Secretary of the Navy, has said, a new GI Bill would strengthen our military by encouraging more high-aptitude, college-bound young people to join up. Getting money for an education is the number one reason civilians enlist in the first place. A new GI Bill is an amazing opportunity to keep the promise we made to our veterans and to revitalize our military, all in one step.

Earlier today, the Senate passed the GI Bill by a stronger-than-expected vote of 75-22. Now, the bill goes to the President’s desk for his signature. Please take a minute to tell him to pass the new GI Bill.You can also see a full list of who voted for the GI Bill, and who voted against it, here.

The illness of Senator Kennedy and the uncertain schedules of the two Democratic Senators seeking the party’s nomination for president may delay the Senate vote on the GI Bill, a part of the war funding votes scheduled for this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today.

“To make a long story really short, we have a really complicated path to go to complete our work,” he said.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/reid-supplemental-vote-before-memorial-day-unlikely-2008-05-20.html

To celebrate Memorial Day, Congress will be out of session next week, meaning any work not completed this week will not be addressed again until the beginning of June.

Additional Benefit Added to Historic GI Bill

Senators Webb, Hagel and Warner today offered a new amendment to their historic GI Bill that makes the benefit transferable to the families of troops making longer commitments to military service.

Joined by two other key cosponsors of the “Post 9/11 GI Bill,” Senators Akaka and Levin, these Senators, all distinguished combat veterans, added new language to their legislation that would give troops completing four years of military service and re-enlisting for an additional six years the option of gradually transferring their GI Bill benefits to their families.

This two-year pilot “transferability” program would closely follow current law, which leaves transferability at the discretion of the service secretaries.

The issue of transferability came to public attention when President Bush called for transferable GI Bill benefits in his State of the Union address. Transferability is also a hallmark of the legislation introduced by Senators Graham and Burr to revise the current GI Bill, a proposal which has gained relatively little traction in the face of the overwhelming bipartisan support for the Webb-Hagel-Warner “Post 9/11 GI Bill.”

The Webb-Hagel-Warner transferability amendment is due to be added officially later today. We’ll report the full details of this amendment as it becomes available.

Last week the House of Representatives voted to fund the new GI Bill by a vote of 256-166. Tomorrow, the Senate is scheduled to vote on the same bill. This is the last crucial step before the bill goes to the President’s desk for his signature.

Please take a minute now to call your Senators and tell them to support the new GI Bill (S.22).