Sen. Jim Webb introduced the Post-9/11 Veterans

Daniel Bowman Kathleen Bowman Albemarle County
Published: May 12, 2008

Educational Assistance Act (S22) in January 2007. It now has 58 co-sponsors in the Senate. A companion bill in the House (HR5740) was introduced on April 9. It now has 250 co-sponsors.

In spite of support from members of both parties, a notable absence from the list of co-sponsors is our representative, Virgil Goode. We are mystified by why he or any other member of Congress does not support this bill. We encourage all readers to urge Congressman Goode to sign on as a co-sponsor and to work for its rapid passage.

Ours is one of the many, many American families that benefited from the original GI bill following World War II. Those benefits continue to the present, and we believe that this new GI bill in 2008 will have similar long-lasting effects for our veterans, their families and our country.

The program is estimated to cost $2 billion per year. That is something less that the current cost of one week of the war in Iraq. This program would be an investment that has proven its effectiveness and efficiency. It is the right thing to do.