The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote this week on a new G.I. Bill designed to further educational benefits for post-9/11 veterans.
S.22, also called the “Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act,” would provide 36 months of benefits up to the cost of the most expensive in-state public school, as well as money for books and housing costs to those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a news release by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA).
“It sounds great to me. If they want to pay for my tuition, I say let’s do it,” said Hugo Perez, 27, a nursing major. Perez served four years in Iraq.
“That’s why I joined the Army – for the college money,” he said.
The bill is supporte by California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, along with 41 out of 53 House representatives.
“These members of the Armed Forces have answered the call of duty and selflessly sacrificed for our country, and they deserve the benefits this bill calls for,” Feinstein said in an e-mail response.
Though it was originally scheduled for a Senate vote last week, S.22 was delayed after a 47-member group conservative Democrats in the House, the “Blue Dog Coalition,” opposed the bill due to its lack of a funding plan, according to USAToday.com.
The bill, which President George W. Bush opposes and is expected to veto if it passes in Congress, currently needs several more votes of support in both the Senate and House in order to achieve the two-thirds majority necessary to negate a presidential veto.
Approximately 140 veterans attend classes at Pierce College, according to Vardui Chefteyan, a financial aid technician at Pierce. Chefteyan is also an official certifying assistant for Veterans’ Affairs. She was unaware that a new G.I. Bill was in the works.
“I could not go to the annual conference this year due to the budget cuts, so I didn’t hear anything about it,” she said. “We usually attend, but there wasn’t enough money this year.”
“Pierce doesn’t have veterans’ counselors like many colleges do,” Chefteyan said.
In fact, while students who are disabled veterans are assigned case managers to assist them with getting books and other supplies free, there is currently not an official Veterans’ Affairs Office on campus, according to Chefteyan.
“We’re trying to develop a small office; but for now, it’s just me,” she said. “I do the best that I can.”
Joseph Knight, 19, though not a veteran himself, reaps the benefits his Army veteran father earned from the G.I. Bill. Knight receives roughly $900 a month to help cover school expenses. ()