Senators: Vets Need New GI Bill

Hagel, Webb argue US owes it to today's soldiers
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 9, 2007 11:36 AM CST
Senators: Vets Need New GI Bill
Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel listens as President Bush speaks about immigration reform in Omaha, Neb., in this June 7, 2006 file photo. Hagel says vets deserve a modern GI Bill. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)   (Associated Press)

The US needs a spruced-up GI Bill for today's veterans, Chuck Hagel and Jim Webb say in an op-ed in today's New York Times. The Vietnam vets argue that the measure "was one of the most important pieces of legislation in our history" and call for a new version to cover the skyrocketing cost of education for those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The original bill paid full college tuition, but current legislation barely covers the price of community college. A new bill will be expensive, the senators warn, but it "should be viewed as an obligation." To bolster their point, the lawmakers point to their colleagues who went to school on the GI Bill, including John Warner, Daniel Inouye, and Ted Stevens. (More GI Bill stories.)

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