G.I. Bill

By U.S. Senator Jon Kyl As we celebrate Memorial Day, we honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. We should also focus on the service members who are currently serving our country here at home, as well as those in Iraq, Afghanistan, and many other countries. There is no doubt that our nation owes a great debt to all service men and women, and they deserve our continued respect and support. One way to show our appreciation for our troops is to update the Montgomery G.I. Bill. The G.I. Bill, which was first enacted after World War II, provides financial assistance to service members to help them pursue higher education. At the time of its enactment, the G.I. Bill was a great source of support for young service members returning from the war, many of whom had been drafted to fight right after high school. The Senate is now working to ensure that the G.I. bill continues to offer the same support to our service men and women. Senators Lindsey Graham, Richard Burr, and John McCain recently introduced the Enhancement of Recruitment, Retention and Readjustment Through Education Act (S. 2938), which will build on the current G.I. Bill and make it more effective. I support this legislation, and I believe it will do a great deal to provide the education benefits our service members deserve. The Graham-Burr-McCain bill will improve the education benefits that the current G.I. Bill provides by increasing the benefits to $1,500 monthly for those on active duty. This increased benefit would cover the average cost of a four-year public college, including room, board, tuition and fees. The monthly benefits will increase up to $2,000 by 2011 for members of the military whose service exceeds 12 years. The benefits will also be adjusted annually to take into account the increasing cost of education. The bill will also allow the transfer of these education benefits to family members. Depending on the number of years served, a service member could transfer part or all of his or her benefits to a qualified family member. After six years, a member could transfer half of his education benefits to a spouse, child, or both. After 12 years, a member could transfer all of his education benefits, thus providing up to $72,000 towards a dependent's education. The transferability benefit in the Graham-Burr-McCain bill not only acknowledges the sacrifices of service members' families, it will also help retention, providing an incentive to continue military service. The bill also includes numerous other additions: it increases the educational benefits to National Guard and Reserve members; allows service members to use up to $6,000 per year of their education benefits to repay federal student loans; creates a matching program to help more veterans graduate debt-free by authorizing the Veterans Affairs Department to pay an additional $3,000 per year to a college or university to retire education debts; eliminates the $1,200 G.I. Bill enrollment fee; and provides annual stipends for books and supplies. The Graham-Burr-McCain and a competing proposal offered by Senator Jim Webb will be considered as part of this year's funding bill for our military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am confident that a negotiated version of these bills will become law by July 4, and I'll report on the status at that time. U.S. Senator Jon Kyl is the Assistant Republican Leader and serves on the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees. Visit his website at www.kyl.senate.gov.