Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
FNC
May 8, 2008 Special Report With Brit Hume (FNC), 6:00 PM
BRET BAIER: The GI Bill that James mentioned is not the shoo-in many observers thought it might have been. Times have changed since the original GI Bill of 1944. There is, of course, no military draft now. And critics say the fighting forces of today could be stretched even more if education benefits are too generous.
National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin explains.
JENNIFER GRIFFIN: When troops return home from Iraq and Afghanistan, they could get an education under the current GI Bill, but only if they paid $1,200 when they enlisted. The paperwork is confusing and less than 10 percent ever use these education benefits. After World War II, eight million war vets used the GI Bill to get educated. For every $1 invested, economists estimate the government received a $7 return in productivity and tax revenue. That GI Bill helped create a postwar middle class.
Now, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat, to give the troops four years of education free after just three years of service has the support of veterans. So why is the Pentagon opposed?
DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES: Our desire is to keep soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines in the military as long as possible. And so our hope would be and our preference would be that the period of service be long enough to, in essence, require at least one reenlistment.
GRIFFIN: The Congressional Budget Office estimates 16 percent of the force would leave service if Webb’s education bill passes.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC) [McCain Bill Co-Sponsor]: If you have a very big benefit after three years that doesn’t get better over time, then people are enticed to leave.
GRIFFIN: Secretary Gates, himself a beneficiary of the original GI Bill that helped him pay for his Ph.D. from Georgetown University, wrote in a letter to Sen. John McCain, quote, “significant benefit increases need to be focused on those willing to commit to longer periods of service, hence the department’s interest in at least six years of service to be eligible for transferability.” Transferability of education benefits to a service member’s wife or children, something not available under the current GI Bill and not offered in Sen. Webb’s bill.
Sen. McCain put forth his own bill last week, which provides education benefits the longer one serves. After six years, half of those education benefits could be transferred to family members. After 12 years, all could pay for a child’s college education. Sen. Webb asked the heads of Veterans Affairs groups whether the McCain-Graham bill is better than his in helping veterans reintegrate back home.
PANEL MEMBER I: No, sir.
PANEL MEMBER II: No, sir.
PANEL MEMBER III: No, sir.
PANEL MEMBER IV: No, Senator.
PANEL MEMBER V: No, sir.
GRIFFIN: Sen. Webb has managed to attached his GI Bill to the current war funding legislation being considered by the House, but with that legislation now in trouble, so is Webb’s bill.
At the Pentagon, Jennifer Griffin, Fox News.
May 8, 2008 Special Report With Brit Hume (FNC), 6:00 PM
BRET BAIER: The GI Bill that James mentioned is not the shoo-in many observers thought it might have been. Times have changed since the original GI Bill of 1944. There is, of course, no military draft now. And critics say the fighting forces of today could be stretched even more if education benefits are too generous.
National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin explains.
JENNIFER GRIFFIN: When troops return home from Iraq and Afghanistan, they could get an education under the current GI Bill, but only if they paid $1,200 when they enlisted. The paperwork is confusing and less than 10 percent ever use these education benefits. After World War II, eight million war vets used the GI Bill to get educated. For every $1 invested, economists estimate the government received a $7 return in productivity and tax revenue. That GI Bill helped create a postwar middle class.
Now, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat, to give the troops four years of education free after just three years of service has the support of veterans. So why is the Pentagon opposed?
DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES: Our desire is to keep soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines in the military as long as possible. And so our hope would be and our preference would be that the period of service be long enough to, in essence, require at least one reenlistment.
GRIFFIN: The Congressional Budget Office estimates 16 percent of the force would leave service if Webb’s education bill passes.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC) [McCain Bill Co-Sponsor]: If you have a very big benefit after three years that doesn’t get better over time, then people are enticed to leave.
GRIFFIN: Secretary Gates, himself a beneficiary of the original GI Bill that helped him pay for his Ph.D. from Georgetown University, wrote in a letter to Sen. John McCain, quote, “significant benefit increases need to be focused on those willing to commit to longer periods of service, hence the department’s interest in at least six years of service to be eligible for transferability.” Transferability of education benefits to a service member’s wife or children, something not available under the current GI Bill and not offered in Sen. Webb’s bill.
Sen. McCain put forth his own bill last week, which provides education benefits the longer one serves. After six years, half of those education benefits could be transferred to family members. After 12 years, all could pay for a child’s college education. Sen. Webb asked the heads of Veterans Affairs groups whether the McCain-Graham bill is better than his in helping veterans reintegrate back home.
PANEL MEMBER I: No, sir.
PANEL MEMBER II: No, sir.
PANEL MEMBER III: No, sir.
PANEL MEMBER IV: No, Senator.
PANEL MEMBER V: No, sir.
GRIFFIN: Sen. Webb has managed to attached his GI Bill to the current war funding legislation being considered by the House, but with that legislation now in trouble, so is Webb’s bill.
At the Pentagon, Jennifer Griffin, Fox News.