President Highlights New GI Bill

President Barack Obama today delivered his thanks to troops who've served in war since the September 11 attacks by introducing a revamped G.I. Bill, asserting that the new program matches the benefits bestowed on veterans of World War II and will boost the economy by infusing a new generation of productive leaders into American society.

Speaking before a group of veterans, students, lawmakers and activists in a small auditorium at Virginia's George Mason University, Obama said America owed the new education benefit -- which pays full tuition for a degree from a public university and helps underwrite room, board and books for vets -- to those who deployed to war zones multiple times and others who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

"Over the last eight years, they have endured tour after tour of duty in dangerous and distant places," Obama said. "They've experienced grueling combat -- from the streets of Fallujah to the harsh terrain of Helmand Province. So by any measure, they are the authors of one of the most extraordinary chapters of military service in the history of our nation."

Flanked by Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, Vice President Joe Biden, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and retired Virginia Sen. John Warner, Obama praised lawmakers' work in pushing the benefit through a Congress and Pentagon resistant to the added billions it would spend to boost previous grants that were part of the Montgomery G.I. Bill.

Obama also took a swipe at the ethics that lead to the current recession.  In words reminiscent of the campaign trail, he praised the values of service over profit, saying, "While so many were reaching for the quick buck, they were heading out on patrol.  They have borne the responsibility of war. And now, with this policy, we are making it clear that the United States of America must reward responsibility, and not irresponsibility."

There are big differences between GI Bill programs, find out which program best fits your situation with Military.com's GI Bill Calculator.

The so-called "Post-9/11 G.I. Bill" formally went into effect August 1. Shinseki indicated his office expects that by 2011, about 250,000 veterans will take advantage of the new benefits.

Lawmakers who pushed the bill in Congress said it was time to give the generation that served since the terrorist attacks of 2001 the same kind of educational opportunities given to the veterans of World War II -- dubbed "the greatest generation."

In remarks before Obama took the stage, Webb -- who drafted the original bill in his first weeks in office -- said the new G.I. bill is expected to mirror the economic benefit of the post-World War II G.I. Bill, generating $7 in revenue for every $1 spent on benefits.

"We keep calling them the 'next greatest generation' so at a minimum what we can do is provide them with the same educational opportunities and the same chance at a first-class future that the greatest generation had," Webb said.

But it wasn't an easy fight to pass the bill into law.

The Pentagon, bolstered by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and others on Capitol Hill, grumbled at the $70 billion, ten-year price tag and argued the new benefits would serve as an incentive for troops to leave the service after one hitch, depleting the ranks of experienced NCOs during a time of military expansion.

Webb enlisted key Armed Services Committee Brahmins such as Sens. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and now retired Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) to his cause, providing the needed political firepower to bend the Pentagon's will.

"I was a corporal in his ranks, but Jim Webb gave us the order to 'fix bayonets, this legislation is going over [to the Senate]' and we got it through," Warner growled to an enthusiastic audience. "Despite the Pentagon's resisting it, despite the [Bush] administration's resisting it, this legislation became law because of Jim Webb's leadership -- period."

To buttress supporters' arguments of the new law's downstream benefits to the U.S. economy, Shinseki outlined how previous G.I. Bill recipients have made a difference because of their education benefits.

"By the time the original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, the United States was richer by creating 5 million engineers; 240,000 accountants; 238,000 teachers; 91,000 scientists; 67,000 doctors; 22,000 dentists and 1 million other college-educated individuals," he explained. "This post-9/11 G.I. Bill has the potential to equally impact the United States in resoundingly positive ways in this new century."