TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Congress Wrangles Over New Military Benefits

ADVERTISEMENT

By BILLY HOUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 8, 2008

WASHINGTON - Two approaches at expanding and modernizing educational benefits to military veterans through a new GI bill are clashing in both the U.S. House and Senate.

Playing key roles on opposite sides of the issue are two Tampa Bay area members of Congress.

This week, Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow introduced a House bill that mirrors an approach introduced in the Senate by GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Richard Burr of North Carolina.

Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia already proposed a bill that has the support of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville is the lead Republican sponsor of the bill's House version.

The approach by Webb and Brown-Waite has the support from a bipartisan majority of House members and senators.

The Pentagon, however, is arguing that it would make military retention difficult.

McCain, Putnam and other Republicans in Congress say they agree that Webb's approach goes beyond rewarding military service to actually creating incentives to leaving military service.

As an option, the Graham-McCain-Burr bill is depicted as being structured to kick in additional rewards for longer service.

The greatest benefits, including allowing the transfer of some educational benefits to family members, would be extended to those who remained in service at least six years.

The current GI Bill costs about $2.2 billion a year. A new version is expected to bring that closer to $4 billion a year.

The issue is likely to be considered as part of the supplemental war funding bill the House plans to take up as early as today. President Bush has requested $108 billion in extra war funding.

Brown-Waite thinks the Webb approach takes care of the Guard and Reserve better, said her spokesman, Charlie Keller.

He also noted that the Webb approach also takes into account the cost of the highest tuition at a public college in a state in determining the amount of tuition a service member can receive there, instead of setting a specific figure.

As for the argument that Webb's bill creates incentives to leave the military, Brown-Waite "does not buy that or really understand it," Keller said.

Such benefits are supposed to be enticing enough to persuade people to join the military, and "if you can't recruit them in the first place, you don't have to worry about them leaving," he said.

Putnam said he introduced the alternative bill in the House because it provides transferability of benefits to the service member's family, it rewards military service without undercutting retention, and it rewards re-enlistment and longer periods of service.

"These are also the goals Defense Secretary Robert Gates has outlined as the criteria by which the Department of Defense would be evaluating the various legislative proposals," Putnam said.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@tampatrib

.com or at (202) 662-7673.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT