President George Bush used a portion of his weekly radio address on Saturday to ask Congress to pass an expansion of the GI Bill "that makes it easier for our troops to transfer unused education benefits to their spouses and children." The radio address focused on what he would like Congress to accomplish on when it returns this week.
"I hope Members of Congress return rested, because they have a lot of work left on important issues and limited time to get it done," said the president.
Bush called an expansion of the GI Bill "critical" to support the all-vounteer force. The Bush Administration opposes the GI Bill currently making its way through Congress that was introduced by Marine Corp. veteran Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) because it costs too much and would decrease military retention. The new GI bill is attached to a much larger war funding bill that passed the Senate and could be taken up by the House this week.
"Congress needs to pass a responsible war funding bill that puts the needs of our troops first, without loading it up with unrelated domestic spending," Bush said.
Webb's bill would increase educational benefits available to members of the military who have served on active duty since September 11, 2001, including reservists and members of the National Guard. The Bush Administration opposes the bill because they feel it would decrease military retention for current soldiers because it provides college benefits for soldiers who have served as little as three months. Benefit amounts would be based on the amount of time a veteran had served in the military since 9/11. The benefits would be payable for 36 months, the equivalent of four years of college, and would be available for up to 15 years after a veteran leaves active duty.
The bill received overwhelming support in the Senate and will be headed back to the House for further debate this week.
Print and audio versions of the president's radio address are available online.
By Justin Draeger
NASFAA Associate Director for Communications
Posted 06/02/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
