President Obama honored veterans of the Afghan and Iraq wars on August 3 while celebrating the execution of the first major GI Bill since WW2. According to the Daily News, the President stated that the nation owes a debt to post 9/11 servicemen and women, and that fulfilling this obligation would also help to remedy America’s ailing economy.

The President’s speech marks the Veterans Affairs Department’s release of tuition payment under the Post 9/11 GI Bill. This revised bill was approved by Congress last year as a part of a $165 billion legislation to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq until June 2009. The Bill’s provisions are as follows:

• Veterans of both wars will have their tuition and fees in in-state public university paid for according to their length of service beginning Sept. 10, 2001.
• They also receive a monthly housing allowance and an annual stipend of $1,000 for books and supplies.
• The minimum percentage of costs covered is at 40 percent, for those who have served at least 90 days but less than six months.
• Those with at least 36 months of service or at least 30 continuous days on active duty and were discharge because of disabilities acquired during their duties, are eligible for 100 percent benefits.
• Post 9/11 veterans can transfer their benefits to family members. Their children can begin using these at 18 years old, or after obtaining a high school diploma.

During Obama’s reverential speech at George Mason University, he said “We do this not just to meet our moral obligation to those who’ve sacrificed greatly on our behalf and on behalf of the country. We do it because these men and women must now be prepared to lead our nation in the peaceful pursuit of economic leadership in the 21st century. This generation of servicemen and women has already earned a place of honor in American history. Each of them signed up to serve, many after they knew that they would be sent into harm’s way. Over the last eight years, they have endured tour after tour of duty in dangerous and distant places…by any measure; they are the authors of one of the most extraordinary chapters of military service in the history of our nation.” The men and women of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force have put their lives on the line for our futures and we, at the very least, should honor their courage by giving them the opportunity to make the best of their lives.

Even though the Bill was a compromise, with Senator McCain and republicans authoring much of the provisions, Obama knew the importance of this initiative and fought to have the GI Bill tied to his education reform agenda. Our military servicemen and women are on the front lines for our safety and security, and Obama was going to go to bat for them every step of the way in order to get them the educational benefits they deserved. According to the President, this new bill “is even more important” than the WWII-era legislation because this “must give today’s veterans the skills and training they need to fill the jobs of tomorrow. Education is the currency that can purchase success in the 21st century, and this is the opportunity that our troops have earned.”

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