Schwartz: Today's Signing of New GI Bill of Rights is a Tremendous Victory for America's Veterans and their Families

Statement

Schwartz: Today's Signing of New GI Bill of Rights is a Tremendous Victory for America's Veterans and their Families

U.S. Representative Allyson Schwartz released the following statements concerning today's signing into law by President Bush of emergency supplemental funding legislation, which included both the new GI Bill of Rights and an extension of unemployment benefits.

"The GI Bill helped an entire generation of deserving Americans receive a quality education, and truly paved the way for America to build our middle class following WWII. As the daughter of a Korean War veteran, I know personally how important it is that we not just honor our veterans with rhetoric, but with action. The new GI Bill of Rights will ensure that our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will be able to receive the educational advantages that they earned for their service to this nation. Today truly is a tremendous victory for America's veterans and their families," said U.S. Representative Allyson Schwartz.

The new GI Bill of Rights will revolutionize the way that the VA allocates education benefits to veterans. Specifically the bill will:

* Provide veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan the opportunity to receive up to four academic years of education benefits, including stipends for housing and books;

* Allow veterans to have up to 15 years after they leave active duty to use their education benefits;

* Give veterans the ability to use their benefits for program fees, tuition, books and housing;

* Provide veterans with the ability to use a matching fund program that would enable the federal government to match, dollar for dollar, any voluntary additional contributions to veterans from institutions whose tuition is more expensive than the maximum educational assistance provided under the new GI Bill;

* And allow service personnel who stay in the military to transfer their educational benefits to their spouses and children.

The emergency supplemental legislation signed into law today also included an important victory for middle class families that have been hurt by layoffs due to the struggling economy. The bill contained a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits for Americans who have lost their job and working hard to find a new one. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Schwartz was a vocal proponent for this extension, which would help more than 3.8 million workers.

"The loss of a job due to the economic downturn should not mean financial disaster for families that have worked hard all their lives and played by the rules. The extension of unemployment benefits will give workers a helping hand to get them back into the workforce quickly," added Schwartz.

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