CONGRESSMAN LATHAM ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR
INCREASING VETERAN EDUCATION BENEFITS
 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Iowa Congressman Tom Latham announced this week that he has signed on as an original co-sponsor to bi-partisan legislation in the United States Congress which completely overhauls the nation’s G.I. Bill education benefits. The Post 9/11 Veterans’ Educational Assistance Act modernizes and increases the benefits available to veterans to address the reality of rising tuition costs and increased deployment of the National Guard and Reserve units.

"No one has done more to secure our freedom than our veterans and military personnel,” said Latham. “The American people and the U.S. government have a solemn obligation to ensure they receive the benefits they deserve and that those benefits allow them to achieve their educational goals in life.”

The legislation, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 8, 2008, closely resembles the educational benefits provided to veterans returning from World War II.

Major provisions of the bill include:

• Increased educational benefits would be available to all members of the military who have served on active duty since September 11, 2001, including activated reservists and National Guard. To qualify, veterans must have served at least three to thirty-six months of qualified active duty, beginning on or after September 11, 2001.

• The bill provides for educational benefits to be paid in amounts linked to the amount of active duty served in the military after 9/11. Generally, veterans would receive some amount of assistance proportional to their service for 36 months, which equals four academic years. Veterans would still be eligible to receive any incentive-based supplemental educational assistance from their military branch for which they qualify.

• Benefits provided under the bill would allow veterans pursuing an approved program of education to receive payments covering the established charges of their program, up to the cost of the most expensive instate public school, plus a monthly stipend equivalent to housing costs in their area. The bill would allow additional payments for tutorial assistance, as well as licensure and certification tests.

• The bill would create a new program in which the government will agree 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 Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.

• Veterans would have up to fifteen years, compared to ten years under the Montgomery G.I. Bill, after they leave active duty to use their educational assistance entitlement. Veterans would be barred from receiving concurrent assistance from this program and any similar program.

The bill has received strong support from a number of veteran service organizations including: the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), The American Legion, the Military Officers’ Association of America (MOAA), Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), the Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA), the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS), the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC).

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The Office of Congressman Tom Latham
2247 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-5476