"Generations after the G.I. Bill set Mr. Inouye and millions of other veterans on the path to a college education, Congress is beginning a charged debate over improving benefits for veterans of the post-9/11 era," The New York Times reports. "An emergency Pentagon spending measure scheduled to be considered by the House as early as Thursday would provide $720 million over two years to set up a program that would essentially underwrite a four-year public university education for anyone who has served on active duty for at least three years. On top of that amount, Democrats want to add $11 billion over 10 years to extend unemployment insurance, as well as money for the G.I. education benefits. Sponsored by Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, a Vietnam veteran and former Navy secretary, the measure has broad support in the House and Senate. But the Bush administration and prominent lawmakers, including Senator John McCain of Arizona, a veteran and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, are resisting it."