Vote Tomorrow on New GI Bill

Approximately three-quarters of the men and women serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan are under 30 years of age, part of the Millennial Generation we highlight here on this blog so often.

They're also part of that same generation that's having a devil of a time making ends meet, not least due to the rising cost of college and increasing burden of student loans.

So I wanted to give you all the heads up that tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would expand the G.I. Bill for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The bill has broad support. In the Senate, the effort to expand the GI Bill is led by Jim Webb (D-VA) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE), both veterans; in Congress, nearly 300 members have expressed support for the bill.

From Bob Herbert's column in the issue:

Reinvigorating the GI bill is one of the best things this nation could do. The original GI Bill of Rights, signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1944, paid the full load of a returning veteran's education at a college or technical school and provided a monthly stipend. It was an investment that paid astounding dividends. Millions of veterans benefited, and they helped transform the nation. College would no longer be the exclusive preserve of the wealthy and those who crowned themselves the intellectual elite.

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

If you'd like to contact your member of Congress before tomorrow's vote, you can find them and their contact information here.