[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 13, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE INTRODUCTION OF THE POST-9/11 VETERANS EDUCATION ASSISTANCE ACT OF 
                                  2007

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 13, 2007

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, today I am proud to stand 
before this chamber and introduce the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational 
Assistance Act of 2007. This bill was first introduced in the Senate by 
my friend and fellow Virginia colleague, Senator Jim Webb, earlier this 
year.
  Not since Pearl Harbor has a single event so shaped a generation 
until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Like Pearl Harbor, 
September 11th became a call to arms for many Americans to join the 
Armed Forces.
  For the 15 million veterans who returned home from World War II, 
Congress passed the first G.I. Bill of Rights of 1944. The first G.I. 
Bill helped veterans readjust to civilian life and afforded them the 
opportunity to do something that many had missed out on--getting a 
college education. That first G.I. Bill paid for veterans' tuition, 
books, fees, room and board, and even provided them a monthly stipend. 
Approximately 7.8 million World War II veterans used the benefits in 
the G.I. Bill of 1944 to increase their quality of life through 
education.
  After World War II, Congress passed several other G.I. Bills to 
provide educational benefits for veterans returning home from the 
Korean War and the Vietnam War. Since the Vietnam War, Congress passed 
two G.I. Bills that established peacetime educational benefits for 
members of the all volunteer Armed Services. Although the current 
Montgomery G.I. Bill of 1985 provides peacetime educational benefits, 
the current program was not designed to meet the needs of our current 
global situation--a situation in which several hundred thousand men and 
woman in uniform are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our military 
operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have strained our entire all-
volunteer military, forcing many of our Reservist and National Guard 
units into extended tours of duty. Many of our men and women in the 
Army, Air Force, Navy, and the Marine Corps have served more than one 
tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  With hundreds of thousands of our brave men and woman currently 
fighting overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq, we need a new G.I. Bill to 
honor these veterans when they all finally return home. The Post-9/11 
Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007 is designed to expand the 
educational benefits that our nation offers to our brave men and women 
who have served us so honorably and who have sacrificed so much since 
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The bill that I am 
introducing today is designed to give this generation, who took it upon 
themselves to enlist after 9/11, benefits very similar to those 
provided to the veterans of World War II.
  Madam Speaker, the bill that I am introducing today would 
specifically increase educational benefits to members of the military 
who have served at least 2 years of active duty, with at least some 
period of active duty time served beginning on or after September 11, 
2001. Veterans will be eligible to receive these benefits for no more 
than 36 months or 4 academic years and would have 15 years to exercise 
these benefits. The version of this legislation that I am introducing 
today limits benefit payments to the cost of the most expensive public 
institution in the state in which the veteran is enrolled. If the 
veteran chooses to attend a private institution, the veteran must pay 
the difference between the cost of the college of his or her choice and 
the most expensive public institution of the state in which the veteran 
is enrolled. Like the G.I. Bill of 1944, the Post-9/11 G.I. bill will 
pay for tuition, books, fees, room and board, and provide a monthly 
stipend of $1,000.
  Madam Speaker, while in law school, I was privileged to serve in the 
Massachusetts National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserves. I fortunately 
was never called into active duty, but the circumstances of our global 
situation today have pulled thousands of Guard and Reservists out of 
college into active duty. I am proud to represent the Third 
Congressional District of Virginia which is home to thousands of 
military personnel. You can't go very far in my district without 
running into a military installation or a member of our Armed Forces. I 
see the sacrifices of our men and women and their families each and 
every time I return home.
  Madam Speaker, it is time that we pass a G.I. Bill on the same scale 
of the first G.I. Bill that was passed at the end of World War II to 
meet the sacrifices of this generation. I am pleased to join Senator 
Webb by introducing the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act 
of 2007 in the House today and I encourage my colleagues to support 
this legislation.

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