[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 86 (Thursday, June 30, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                             GI BILL UPDATE

                                 ______


                      HON. G.V. (SONNY) MONTGOMERY

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 30, 1994

  Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, last week I was honored to participate 
in a ceremony at the Department of Veterans Affairs commemorating the 
50th anniversary of the GI bill of rights.
  On June 6, 1944, the Allied Forces launched the massive invasion 
which rescued Europe from Hitler's terror and oppression and restored 
liberty in the Western World. I came into Normandy 5 months after the 
invasion as a 2d lieutenant in an armored division. I then had the 
great privilege to lead a congressional delegation which participated 
in the recent 50th anniversary of that momentous day.
  Sixteen days after the D-day invasion, on June 22, 1944, President 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 
1944--generally referred to as the GI bill of rights. There have been 
few, if any, more important pieces of legislation enacted by Congress, 
and no investment ever made by our Government has paid richer dividends 
to us all. Because of the increased earning power that comes with 
advanced education, veterans pay several times the cost of the GI bill 
in Federal income tax over the course of their lifetimes.
  No program in the 20th century has had more of an impact on the 
social and economic fabric of the United States--housing, education, 
employment, corporate America--all areas of our society have benefited 
from the assistance provided under this landmark legislation. Extended 
to our present day by the Korean conflict, Vietnam era, and Montgomery 
GI bills, the original GI bill changed the concept of adult education 
in the United States and started the greatest home construction boom in 
history.
  This is an appropriate time to update my colleagues on the GI bill 
that is available to the young men and women now entering our Armed 
Forces. Since we enacted this program in 1984, more than 1.5 million 
young men and women have enrolled in the Montgomery GI bill--Active 
Duty--chapter 30, title 38, United States Code--and over 419,000 
veterans have gone to school under this program. Nearly 315,000 members 
of the Selected Reserve have pursued further education using the 
benefits available to them under the Montgomery GI bill-Selected 
Reserve--chapter 106, title 10, United States Code.
  During the month of May 1994, 94 percent of new active duty Army 
recruits elected to participate in the Montgomery GI bill [MGIB]. 
Ninety-seven percent of Navy recruits made the same decision as did 88 
percent of Air Force recruits and 97 percent of Marine Corps recruits. 
Overall, during the month of May 1994, 94 percent of all new recruits 
DOD-wide chose to enroll in the MGIB-Active Duty.
  Not only has the MGIB been popular with recruits, it has also been a 
cost-effective program. Since the initiation of the MGIB--Active Duty 
on July 1, 1985, through May 31, 1994, $1.99 billion have reverted to 
the U.S. Treasury as a result of the basic pay reductions required to 
participate in the program. During the same time period, $2.9 billion 
have been paid in benefits under the MGIB-Active Duty and the MGIB--
Selected Reserve.
  GI bills are often characterized as rewards for honorable military 
service. I believe they are even more appropriately described as 
tributes to those whose lives have been disrupted--and too often 
threatened--so that the rest of us can enjoy the security and 
prosperity of these democratic United States.

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