Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
February 20, 2008 Larsen, Cantwell promoting bill
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- As a career counselor for the state of Washington, Vietnam veteran Thomas Noel frequently advises other former service members on how to get ahead in the work force.
Whether they have just returned from tours in Iraq or have been out of the military for decades, Noel's main message to the veterans is always the same: Get an education.
"I see these people every day -- men and women who served our country," says Noel, a veterans employment representative for Washington state. "I tell them, 'You have to go to school.' "
But it's too late for many of these veterans.
Under the Montgomery GI Bill, the federal government picks up some of the tab for veterans to go to college and attend training programs -- but only for 10 years after they were discharged.
The law, first passed in 1944 as a way to help World War II veterans, is now named after former Mississippi Rep. Gillespie "Sonny" Montgomery, who helped lead an update of the statute in 1984.
Some lawmakers in Congress now want to get rid of that 10-year use-it-or-lose-it deadline.
Washington Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen and Sen. Maria Cantwell are sponsoring legislation that would allow veterans to use the GI Bill's education benefits anytime after leaving military service.
Dubbed the "GI Bill for Life," their measure has drawn support from a wide variety of veterans groups, including the American Legion and the Military Officers Association of America. It is co-sponsored in the House by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Ron Paul, R-Texas. In the Senate, co-sponsors include Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.
Larsen said the deadline for using educational benefits under the GI Bill is "arbitrary" and doesn't meet the needs of recent and longtime veterans. Returning veterans may put off their post-military education so they can begin new jobs or because they are recovering from injuries -- even while the GI Bill clock is running.
"These are veterans who are coming back to the U.S. to whom we owe a great debt," Larsen said in an interview. "And the debt we owe them shouldn't expire because of an artificial timeline."
Cantwell said veterans who want to keep up with a rapidly changing work force should be able to use their GI Bill education benefits long after being discharged.
Under the current law, veterans can get up to 36 months of payments for college, technical or vocational training and apprenticeship programs. The benefits top out at $1,075 per month.
Service members who wish to take advantage of the GI Bill agree to have $1,200 deducted from their pay during their first year in the military. That money cannot be refunded.
Noel said the time limits catch many veterans off guard.
Larsen and Cantwell's legislation could become part of a broader bill revamping benefits for veterans.
The Bush administration has opposed the measure as too expensive.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it cannot estimate the proposal's price tag because there is no way to predict how many people would go to school or get training more than 10 years after leaving military service.
At the State of the Union Address in January, President Bush called for some changes to the GI Bill -- including allowing veterans to transfer their benefits to other immediate family members. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, immediately introduced legislation that would allow the benefit transfers.
February 20, 2008 Larsen, Cantwell promoting bill
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- As a career counselor for the state of Washington, Vietnam veteran Thomas Noel frequently advises other former service members on how to get ahead in the work force.
Whether they have just returned from tours in Iraq or have been out of the military for decades, Noel's main message to the veterans is always the same: Get an education.
"I see these people every day -- men and women who served our country," says Noel, a veterans employment representative for Washington state. "I tell them, 'You have to go to school.' "
But it's too late for many of these veterans.
Under the Montgomery GI Bill, the federal government picks up some of the tab for veterans to go to college and attend training programs -- but only for 10 years after they were discharged.
The law, first passed in 1944 as a way to help World War II veterans, is now named after former Mississippi Rep. Gillespie "Sonny" Montgomery, who helped lead an update of the statute in 1984.
Some lawmakers in Congress now want to get rid of that 10-year use-it-or-lose-it deadline.
Washington Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen and Sen. Maria Cantwell are sponsoring legislation that would allow veterans to use the GI Bill's education benefits anytime after leaving military service.
Dubbed the "GI Bill for Life," their measure has drawn support from a wide variety of veterans groups, including the American Legion and the Military Officers Association of America. It is co-sponsored in the House by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Ron Paul, R-Texas. In the Senate, co-sponsors include Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.
Larsen said the deadline for using educational benefits under the GI Bill is "arbitrary" and doesn't meet the needs of recent and longtime veterans. Returning veterans may put off their post-military education so they can begin new jobs or because they are recovering from injuries -- even while the GI Bill clock is running.
"These are veterans who are coming back to the U.S. to whom we owe a great debt," Larsen said in an interview. "And the debt we owe them shouldn't expire because of an artificial timeline."
Cantwell said veterans who want to keep up with a rapidly changing work force should be able to use their GI Bill education benefits long after being discharged.
Under the current law, veterans can get up to 36 months of payments for college, technical or vocational training and apprenticeship programs. The benefits top out at $1,075 per month.
Service members who wish to take advantage of the GI Bill agree to have $1,200 deducted from their pay during their first year in the military. That money cannot be refunded.
Noel said the time limits catch many veterans off guard.
Larsen and Cantwell's legislation could become part of a broader bill revamping benefits for veterans.
The Bush administration has opposed the measure as too expensive.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it cannot estimate the proposal's price tag because there is no way to predict how many people would go to school or get training more than 10 years after leaving military service.
At the State of the Union Address in January, President Bush called for some changes to the GI Bill -- including allowing veterans to transfer their benefits to other immediate family members. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, immediately introduced legislation that would allow the benefit transfers.