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The Senate overwhelmingly backed a landmark increase in educational aid to the nation’s veterans on 22 MAY, defying the White House and challenging President Bush to make good on a threatened veto. Senators voted 75-22 to attach the revamped GI Bill to a $165 billion appropriations measure for continued military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The total is $57 billion more than Bush requested and includes billions of dollars in additional aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina and heating subsidies for the poor, among other domestic programs. With an estimated 10-year cost of $51 billion, the Webb proposal would be the largest increase in decades in a veteran’s aid program. Modeled after the GI bill provided to World War II veterans, the measure would give veterans tuition aid equal to the cost of the most expensive public college in their home states once they’ve served for at least three years since the 911 attacks. Veterans choosing private schools, which typically are more expensive, could get additional aid if their colleges agreed to reduce tuitions. And all participants would be eligible for a monthly cost-of-living stipend while attending college.

In a concession to the administration engineered by Warner, Webb agreed to amend the legislation later this year to permit career service members to transfer at least part of their college aid to a spouse or children. The White House has argued that such transferability is critical to efforts to encourage experienced troops to remain in uniform. Bush has promised to veto any bill spending more than the $108 billion he sought for the war effort. The 75 votes Webb’s plan received is eight more than supporters would need to override a veto. The previous week the House passed the 21st century GI Bill by a vote of 256-166. However, the administration position apparently has more strength in the House. The Senate package now goes to the House to reconcile differences. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, “There’s a long way to go in this process, and fortunately, it takes two houses of Congress to send a bill to the president. Our position hasn’t changed: This is the wrong way to consider domestic spending, and Congress should not go down this path.” The House is expected to consider the package after the Memorial Day recess. The Senate vote for Webb’s plan represented a greater-than-expected show of strength for the enhanced benefit and underscored an election-year gap between the president and his fellow Republicans. Twenty-five of the Senate’s 47 Republicans backed the Webb plan, despite the fact that the president and Arizona Sen. John McCain, their party’s presumptive presidential nominee, support a less generous alternative.

McCain was on the campaign trail and did not take part in the vote. But South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, perhaps McCain’s closest ally in the Senate and the chief sponsor of the administration’s preferred GI Bill plan, renewed arguments that the Webb plan will encourage needed troops to leave the military. Graham cited a Congressional Budget Office study indicating that the Webb bill could cut the military’s annual re-enlistments by 16%. The same report, however, suggested that the prospect of a fully financed college education would stimulate a 16% jump in initial enlistments. Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama fighting for their party’s presidential nomination, showed up to support Webb’s proposal. Webb insisted again that the legislation should not be a partisan issue. He recruited 11 Republicans as co-sponsors in the Senate, he reminded reporters, adding that “if I were able to sit down with John McCain for 10 or 15 minutes, I honestly think that he would support this bill.” Both Webb and Warner paid tribute on 22 MAY to a broad coalition of veterans groups that supported the bill, with Webb suggesting that their backing might have helped persuade Republicans in particular to differ with the administration. Patrick Campbell, legislative director for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said members of the organization watched with excitement as senators switched their votes on the floor. The group began working on the bill four months ago with Webb, Warner, and representatives from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Military Officers Association of America, Campbell said. “How can you tell a veteran that’s been to war three or four times that it’s too rich of a benefit?” he asked. [Source: The Virginian Pilot Dale Eisman article 23 May 08 ++]

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