Legislative History

In January 2007, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) introduced the “Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2007” (S. 22), which would have provided educational benefits that paralleled those of the post-World War II GI Bill.  (Sen. Webb has extensive resources on the bill on his Web site).

On February 28, 2008, Webb unveiled a revised bill that made a number of changes designed to reduce its cost. A companion bill, H.R. 5740, was introduced in the House by Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) on April 7, 2008.   

In introducing the revised measure, Webb and the principal cosponsors of the legislation—Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE), John Warner (R-VA), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)—discussed the bill on the Senate floor.  (Click here for a full transcript).

Of particular note was Senator Warner’s strong statement on behalf of the importance of assisting veterans to attend the college of their choice.  In his words: 

The original GI Bill of Rights was enacted in 1944, and in successive Congresses they made changes to it. But the key to the bill that the two of us from World War II--Senator Lautenberg and myself--is that our group of veterans could go to any college or university of his choice, subject to academic or admission requirements. . . . Today's GI bill . . . simply does not have the financial provisions to enable young men and women of this generation to go to any campus they desire. . . . And so we have carefully structured in this bill the opportunity for institutions of higher learning to step up and share in this program.

Senator Warner’s full statement contains several other references to the need to maintain veterans’ options for attending private institutions.