This story is from the other day, but it bears mentioning. A bipartisan bill is on the table that would provide full scholarships to in-state public universities, along with housing costs, for any veteran who served at least three years in the armed forces. It also would give vets “15 years to use the benefit, instead of the current 10-year limit, and would set up a new government program that matches financial aid by more expensive private institutions, according to The Washington Post. The program is estimated to cost $51.8 billion over 10 years — not cheap,but the investment would pay significant dividends down the road.
And it’s the right thing to do, regardless of where one stands on the war.
“Meeting the needs of our veterans is a cost of war,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who described the bill as a “thank you” to the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But there are some — Republicans “and even some members of the more fiscally conservative Democratic rank-and-file” — that are “balking at the cost,” while the military is worried that the legislation would encourage . would soldiers to walk away from the service.
The Pentagon has said that it’s open to boosting college aid, even substantially, for veterans but wants the commitment to extend to at least six years, instead of three, before the full benefit kicks in.
“The last thing we want to do is create a situation in which we are losing our men and women who we have worked so hard to train,” said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.
But U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., one of the sponsors,
counters that his legislation would be more effective in attracting new recruits and would offset any drop in the military’s ranks.
“I can’t think of a better way to broaden (the) propensity to serve than to offer a truly meaningful educational benefit, rather than simply taking that smaller demographic” of those already enlisted “and pound on it” with repeated combat tours, he said.
More importantly, the people we are sending into war deserve more than the stop-loss program and IEDs.
“Visit Walter Reed,” said Marty Conatser, head of the American Legion, in a recent statement urging Congress to pass the bill. “War is expensive indeed and the bulk of that cost is paid for by the men and women who wear the uniform. Benefits are just a small, small cost of war.”
A cost we have a moral responsibility to pay.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
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Hank Kalet 