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DEMS QUASH GOP AMBUSH TO ADOPT McCAIN'S WEAK
ALTERNATIVE TO G.I. BILL -- "I wanted to see if
we could
work on good faith for once without the
Republicans
playing petty politics. Obviously we can't do
that."
For a story about Sen. Jim Webb and his
"front-running" G.I. Bill, click here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAY08/nf051508-7.htm
For more about the G.I. Bill, use the VA Watchdog
search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=g.i.+bill&op=ph
Story here...
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspa
ge.cfm?docID=news-000002838767&parm1=5&cpage=1
Story below:
-------------------------
Democrats Quash GOP Move to Adopt McCain’s GI
Bill Alternative
By Kathleen Hunter, Bart Jansen and Josh Rogin,
CQ Staff
Senate Democrats on Wednesday quashed a surprise Republican bid to advance
a veterans’ benefit proposal co -authored by presumptive GOP presidential
nominee John McCain .
By 55-42, the Senate tabled, and thus killed, an amendment offered by
McCain ally Lindsey Graham , R-S.C., that would expand GI Bill educational
benefits for veterans. Six Republicans joined Democrats in voting to
table. McCain and his two Democratic presidential rivals were absent.
The Senate had stalled for hours earlier in the day after they surprised
Majority Leader Harry Reid with the amendment and a follow-up move by
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., to force a cloture vote on it
Friday.
Democrats objected, saying they had not seen a copy of the amendment,
which mirrors a bill (S 2938) Graham introduced in competition to a major
GI Bill expansion (S 22) proposed by Sen. Jim Webb , D-Va.
Graham offered his amendment to unrelated collective bargaining
legislation (HR 980), saying that he did not anticipate another
opportunity to amend a bill on the floor prior to the Memorial Day recess,
which begins May 23.
“This is the last train leaving the station,” he said, adding that he
would prefer to move a compromise proposal through regular order.
Graham introduced his proposal (S 2938) April 29
as an alternative to a major GI Bill expansion (S 22) proposed by Sen. Jim
Webb , D-Va. His measure was cosponsored by 19 other Republicans,
including McCain, and Independent Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, a
McCain ally.
Graham said Wednesday that he had tried unsuccessfully to work with Webb
to discuss ways to reconcile their competing benefit expansion proposals.
On Monday, Sen. Barack Obama , D-Ill., the leading Democratic presidential
contender, admonished McCain for opposing the Webb bill, which is more
generous to veterans, especially those who have served in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Webb’s proposal is expected to be added to the supplemental emergency war
funding bill that the Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark
up Thursday. A similar benefit expansion is included in the House version
of the war supplemental, which is expected to come up for a floor vote
Thursday.
 Reid,
D-Nev., was livid at the GOP move, accusing Republicans of resorting to an
“untoward” parliamentary maneuver to give a boost to McCain’s White House
bid.
“There’s a lot of things we can do to bring the presidential politics to
what is going on here on the floor,” Reid said, adding that McCain was “
wrong on the war and wrong on the economy.”
Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, who sponsored the bill with
Kennedy, said Graham told him he might offer the amendment if he could not
reach agreement with Webb.
Graham argued that his legislation would in many ways complement Webb’s
bill.
Edward M. Kennedy , D-Mass., said he hoped the Senate would now proceed to
pass the collective bargaining bill “without any more games.”
Republicans, including Gregg, complained that Democrats were refusing to
give them a chance to amend Webb’s proposal.
Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois said he would discuss options
with Republicans but would not commit to allowing them a vote on Graham’s
amendment as part of the supplemental debate.
Sudden Impasse
The Senate ground to a halt for several hours Wednesday. The underlying
bill (HR 980) would extending collective bargaining rights to
firefighters, police officers and other public safety employees
nationwide.
Gregg said the spat over the GI Bill had not done any lasting harm to the
bill, which he has supported, and insisted it was important to protest the
Democratic chokehold on the amendment process.
Reid had said he had spoken May 9 with Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, the top
Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, in
hopes of avoiding any need to block amendments on the floor by filling the
amendment tree.
“I wanted to see if we could work on good faith for once without the
Republicans playing petty politics,” Reid said. “Obviously we can’t do
that.”
A McConnell spokesman said the move to invoke cloture on Graham’s
amendment should not have derailed the bill, even temporarily.
“Why is Reid objecting to people moving forward with amendments?” the aide
asked.
Key Differences
Webb told the Senate that despite the dust-up, he did not want the issue
to be seen as partisan. He said that his bill has 56 cosponsors, including
10 Republicans.
The Webb and Graham bills take different approaches to updating the 1944
GI Bill of Rights (PL 78-346).
“There’s a philosophical difference in how the bills are structured,” said
an aide to Webb.
One of the main departures is over how each bill deals with the ability of
soldiers to transfer benefits to family members. The Graham bill removes
restrictions on transferability limiting that option to specific military
specialties and expands the option to National Guard and Reserve members.
The Webb bill is silent on the issue of transferability, although
Democratic aides point out that the fiscal 2002 defense authorization act
gave the Pentagon the liberty to allow soldiers to transfer unused GI Bill
benefits to family members.
In a March 20 letter to Sen. Daniel K. Akaka , D-Hawaii, chairman of the
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, the Pentagon reported that only 296 out
of 17,000 eligible soldiers took advantage of transferability in 2007
under an Army pilot program.
Secretary Gates wrote to leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee
April 29 to argue for transferability and to oppose the Webb bill. Gates
also said any benefits expansion should be directed towards
career-oriented personnel who have served at least six years in the
military.
“We’re trying to balance the benefit to the veterans also with maintaining
an all- volunteer force and having as experienced a force as we can,”
Gates said May 8.
Under the Webb bill, veterans would receive maximum educational benefits
after 36 months of service and those benefits would be tied to the full
cost of public school tuition and expenses in the veteran’s home state.
The Graham bill would require 12 years of service to garner a maximum
benefit of $2000 per month, with increases in that figure tied to the
consumer price index. Critics point out that the CPI has been steadily
outpaced by tuition increases.
Several veterans groups expressed a preference for the Webb bill in a May
7 veterans committee hearing, and criticized the Graham bill because it
may not cover full tuition costs.
“[The Graham bill] does not reflect the real costs of education, and would
cover far less of the real costs with each passing year,” testified Eric
Hilleman, Deputy Director for National Legislative Service at Veterans of
Foreign Wars.
Josh Rogin contributed to this story.
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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