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Veterans groups rally for better GI Bill

Advocates for a new GI Bill believe a swarm of veterans visiting congressional offices in the past two weeks — including representatives from a new organization of student-veterans — may be helping to turn the tide toward passing a modern education benefits program that provides full tuition plus a stipend.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a Vietnam veteran and member of the Senate’s armed services and veterans’ affairs committees, said Wednesday he is revising — again — what he calls the 21st Century GI Bill.

His plan would pay for full tuition at a four-year public college or university and also provide a small monthly stipend for living expenses, similar to the World War II-era GI Bill

Webb said his legislation, which has 33 cosponsors, must overcome opposition from the Defense Department, as well as concerns about how the plan’s annual cost — an estimated $2.5 billion — will be covered. It also must overcome the view that it is a strictly Democratic initiative, despite being cosponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb, also a Vietnam combat veteran.

Webb said the window of opportunity to pass the bill may be closing, because support for better education benefits for veterans could diminish when operations in Afghanistan and Iraq wind down, or when a new president with a different agenda is sworn in next year.

“It needs to happen this year, before it gets lost in the clutter,” Webb said of his plan.

A similar House bill has 92 cosponsors.

Webb said Senate Democratic leaders have committed to bringing the revised bill to a vote before the end of the year.

Aiding Webb is an expanding collection of military-related associations backing the bill, including a new group — Student Veterans of America — that was formed only a month ago to represent veterans attending college, with or without veterans’ benefits.

The group began with members on 20 campuses in 13 states, but in just a few weeks has quickly spread to every state and more than 250 schools, said Army veteran Luke Stalcup, a Columbia University student who attended a Webb news conference.

“We don’t have a benefit that works,” Stalcup said of the current GI Bill. “We need one that does.”

John Mikelson, a University of Iowa student who is chairman of the group’s board, said the main purpose of Student Veterans of America is to push for improvements in local, state and federal laws and policies to make it easier for veterans to receive a college education.

Also pumping up support for Webb’s bill is Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a five-year-old group that has made improved GI Bill benefits its top legislative priority for 2009.

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of IAVA, said improving GI Bill benefits for combat veterans should not be a controversial issue.

“We believe this is a cost of war,” he said, nothing that the price tag of Webb’s bill is less than what the U.S. is spending in Iraq each week.

“Many people in this town say they support the troops, and we believe they do,” Rieckhoff said. “Now it is time for them to put their money where their mouth is.”