Operation Just Cause... ...for as long as it takes
WASHINGTON, D.C. - "More analysis" is the one thing the Montgomery GI Bill doesn't need, the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee told the VA Thursday.
The Subcommittee is considering two measures to update the Montgomery GI Bill for the 21st century. One is H.R. 1182, the Servicemembers Educational Opportunities Act of 1999, introduced by Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Stump of Arizona, and the other is H.R. 1071, the Montgomery GI Bill Improvement Act of 1999, introduced by Ranking Democratic Member Lane Evans of Illinois.
Both measures were discussed previously at the Subcommittee's April 21 hearing. Subcommittee members were hoping Thursday that leadoff witness Nora Egan, Deputy Under Secretary for Management for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), would tell them what the VA liked or disliked about the two bills. When she testified that "more study is needed" and "more analysis is required," both Democrats and Republicans on the panel let her know they were not pleased.
The most vocal critics were the Subcommittee's Ranking Democratic Member, Congressman Bob Filner of California, and Republican Ray LaHood of Illinois. Both criticized the bureaucratic footdragging and passive tone of VA's testimony.
Congressman LaHood said it was disappointing that the VA official's testimony called for more analysis at least five times. He noted that the Commission on Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance analyzed the Montgomery GI Bill and other transition programs for two years and presented their report to the VA on January 19. LaHood noted that program analysts from Egan's own VBA were detailed to the Commission for 18 months and that Under Secretary Joseph Thompson was an ex-officio member privy to all Commission deliberations and analysis.
"Issues such as an increase in the monthly educational assistance allowance, giving veterans a GI Bill with real purchasing power, accelerated payments, and exempting the Montgomery GI Bill from student financial aid computation under the Higher Educational Act are not new issues," LaHood said. "Yet, the Department says more analysis is needed."
Congressman Filner was especially critical of how poorly America's veterans were served by such VA passivity.
Later witnesses from veterans' and military organizations were unanimous in praising both Stump's and Evans' bills, and the recommendations of the Commission.
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