[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 17 (Friday, January 27, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E207-E208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         MARKING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GI BILL OF RIGHTS

                                 ______


                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 26, 1995
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of 
my colleagues an article written by a great American and a great friend 
named Col. Bernard Wray. Colonel Wray has spent his entire career 
advocating the needs of America's soldiers, both active and retired. In 
this article, Colonel Wray writes about the 50th anniversary of the 
passage of the GI bill of rights. I salute Colonel Wray for his 
commitment to America's military, and urge my colleagues to read his 
account of the passage of this landmark legislation.
   United-Manhattan Post No. 9 American Legion Salutes the Fiftieth 
          Anniversary of the Passage of the GI Bill of Rights

       The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known 
     as the GI Bill of Rights, was signed by President Franklin 
     Delano Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, in his office in the White 
     House, flanked by Legionnaires John Stelle, former Governor 
     of Illinois, and Commander Harry W. Colmery of Kansas, who 
     drafted the GI Bill of Rights in December, 1943.
       The American Legion Posts at the Grass Roots level, from 
     all over the USA, demanded that Congress should provide for 
     returning Veterans, unlike the dark days after World War I, 
     when thousands of war veterans returned, homeless and 
     helpless, with few places to turn for help. The American 
     Legion rank-and-file members around the 48 states demanded a 
     GI Bill, which was drafted entirely by the American Legion.
       The GI Bill of Rights proved to be the most revolutionary 
     piece of social and economic legislation ever enacted! It has 
     educated over 20 million GI's, men and women Veterans, who 
     served their Country with honor. It 
     [[Page E208]] has helped over 14 million veterans to buy 
     their own homes. Veterans who came from the poorer 
     socioeconomic areas were given educational opportunities at 
     the best colleges. Vocational and on-the-job training for 
     technicians were provided. Loan guarantees to help Veterans 
     purchase homes, farms and small businesses were provided; as 
     were the 52-20 payments to Veterans who were looking for 
     decent permanent jobs. Veterans Administration hospitals were 
     built, and offered war heroes like Senator Bob Dole, and 
     Senator Dan Inouye, top rehabilitation medicine, near their 
     home towns.
       The American Legion had to use every bit of its political 
     clout to insure that members of the House and Senate, who 
     told the veterans that they supported the GI Bill of Rights, 
     kept their word and voted for it. Senator George Bennett 
     ``Champ'' Clark, a World War I Veteran, who served with 
     Captain Harry Truman, and who was the original founder of the 
     American Legion in 1919, managed the GI Bill through the US 
     Senate; where it carried unanimously.
       In the House, and in the US Senate, on February 16, 1944, 
     for reasons only they could understand, the VFW, Disabled 
     American Veterans and Military Order of Purple Heart, 
     requested of the Senate Finance Committee members, that they 
     kill the GI Bill of Rights. Committee Chairman ``Champ'' 
     Clark, to his great credit, brought the GI Bill to a 
     Committee vote. It passed unanimously. The House version of 
     the GI Bill of Rights passed by 387 to 0. But minor 
     differences in the House and Senate versions had to be worked 
     out by a joint conference committee. Representative John 
     Rankin of Mississippi tried, at the last minute, to block the 
     GI Bill of Rights. The American Legion found the deciding 
     vote, Representative John D. Gibson, a member of the Joint 
     Conference Committee recuperating from an illness, down in 
     Douglas, Georgia. On the morning of June 10, 1944, 
     Representative John D. Gibson was flown, thanks to the 
     efforts of the American Legion, to Washington DC where he 
     stormed into the Joint Conference Committee room and cast the 
     vote that broke the tie.
       Millions of taxpayers who became doctors, lawyers, 
     businessmen, clergymen, teachers, professors, entrepreneurs 
     and responsible members of the Middle Class can thank the 
     American Legion for their efforts, for lobbying for American 
     Veterans. The GI Bill of Rights paid for itself by generating 
     hundreds of billions of tax dollars paid by GI's over the 
     next 50 years. Now, the American Legion recognizes, through 
     its over 3,000,000 grass roots members that the original GI 
     Bill of Rights, just as strong as the 1944 version in 
     strength and stature, is needed. Post No. 9 will be in the 
     front ranks in fighting for a stronger GI Bill of Rights.
     

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