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Bush signs war funding, GI Bill overhaul

A $162 billion war funding bill that includes a $63 billion overhaul of GI Bill education benefits was signed Monday by President Bush.

“The bill shows even in an election year, Republicans and Democrats can come together to stand behind our troops,” Bush said, predicting the GI Bill increases would be a boost to military recruiting and also a boon to families if educational benefits are transferred to family members.

The signing of HR 2642 brings an end to a Pentagon cash-flow crisis that threatened to disrupt military and civilian payroll, cancel or delay maintenance, and postpone nonessential training and travel.

And, for the first time since the Vietnam War, there will be a completely free veterans’ education benefit program that pays enough to fully cover the cost of getting a four-year college degree.

There was a lot of back-patting as the Senate gave final approval to the measure Thursday with a 92-6 vote, but the lawmaker getting and appearing to deserve the greatest praise for the GI Bill initiative was Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a freshman senator and Vietnam veteran who said he was just trying to give combat veterans the benefits they deserve.

“Eighteen months ago, we began with the simple concept that those who have been serving since 9/11 should have the same opportunity for a first-class educational future as those who served during World War II,” Webb said before Thursday’s vote. “Today, we have accomplished that goal. I would like to emphasize that this is not simply an expansion of veterans’ educational benefits. This is a new program, a deserved program.”

Bush praised Webb and Republican senators John Warner of Virginia, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona for working out the GI Bill compromise.

After a lot of debate, lawmakers have decided the new GI Bill program will be called the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, the name Webb used when he first introduced the bill in January 2007, shortly after he took office. While the name is cumbersome and doesn’t appear suited for a spiffy acronym, congressional aides who worked on the bill said some veterans groups objected to calling it the 21st Century GI Bill of Rights, a name used by many supporters, because an education-only benefits plan is nothing like the original World War II GI Bill of Rights, which included education and unemployment benefits, loans to buy a home or start a business, and other readjustment benefits.