The bill provided weekly unemployment benefits of $20 for up to one year for veterans looking for work. Career guidance was also available. Congress approved in the summer of 2008 an extension of benefits beyond the current GI-Bill program for veterans who have served since the September 11 attacks originally proposed by Democratic Senator Jim Webb. As of August 2009, recipients were eligible for significantly expanded benefits or the full cost of a public college in their state. The new bill also includes shelter allowances and a $1,000 per year allowance for books. [56] U.S. Senator Ernest McFarland, (D) AZ, and U.S. Legion National Commander Warren Atherton, (R) CA, were actively involved in the passage of the law and are known as the “fathers of the GI Act.” One could then call Edith Nourse Rogers, (R) MA, who helped draft and co-finance the legislation, the “mother of the GI Act.” As in Colmery`s case, his contribution to the drafting and passage of this legislation has been obscured by time. [23] Officially the Servicemen`s Readjustment Act of 1944, the G.I. Bill was created to help veterans of the Second World War.
It established hospitals, provided low-interest mortgages, and provided bursaries to cover tuition and expenses for veterans attending colleges and trade schools. From 1944 to 1949, nearly 9 million veterans received nearly $4 billion from the Act`s unemployment compensation program. Education and training regulations existed until 1956, while the Veterans Administration offered insured loans until 1962. The Rehabilitation Benefits Act of 1966 extended these benefits to all veterans of the armed forces, including those who had served in peacetime. The bill was introduced in Congress in January 1944, while war was still raging on the European and Pacific fronts. It was hotly debated in both houses of Congress, but was finally passed in mid-June. President Roosevelt signed the GI Act into law on June 22, 1944. The bill originally proposed by President Roosevelt was means-tested: only poor veterans would be funded for one year; Only the highest scores on a written exam would receive four years of paid university. The American Legion proposal offered every benefit to all veterans, including women and minorities, regardless of wealth. Although blacks faced many obstacles in their quest for the benefits of GI, the law significantly increased the population of African Americans who attended college and higher education. In 1940, enrollment in black colleges accounted for 1.08% of total enrollment in American universities.
By 1950 it had risen to 3.6%. However, these gains were almost exclusively confined to the northern states, and the educational and economic gap between whites and blacks widened under the effects of the G.I. account.[36] Since 79% of the black population lived in the southern states, educational gains were limited to a small portion of black Americans. [34] It was largely drafted and passed by Congress in 1944 in a bipartisan effort led by the American Legion, which sought to reward virtually all veterans. Since World War I, the Legion has been at the forefront of lobbying Congress for generous benefits for veterans. [1] In contrast, Roosevelt wanted a much smaller program focused on the poor, independent of military service. [2] As historians Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart Blumin point out, FDR did not play a significant role in the contours of the law.
At first, Roosevelt shared with almost everyone the idea that “satisfying employment,” not educational opportunities, was the main feature of the law. [3] This changed in the autumn of 1944, when Roosevelt`s special envoy for the European theatre, Anna M. Rosenberg, returned with her report on the post-war expectations of the G.I. From their hundreds of interviews with soldiers fighting in France at the time, it became clear that they wanted educational opportunities that were not previously available to them. [4] FDR “lit up,” Rosenberg recalled, and subsequent amendments to the law included provisions for higher education. [5] During the war, politicians wanted to avoid the postwar confusion about veterans` benefits, which became a political pawn in the 1920s and 1930s. [16] [17] Veterans organizations formed after the First World War had millions of members; They mobilized support in Congress for a bill that only granted benefits to military service veterans, including men and women. Ortiz says their efforts “have anchored VFW and the Legion for decades as two pillars of the American veterans lobby.” [18] [19] The original GI bill, the Servicemen`s Readjustment Act of 1944, was designed to provide post-war veterans with benefits such as small business loans, mortgages and educational grants; However, it has since been updated. The GI Act is considered one of the most important laws of the 20th century passed by the U.S. Congress.
Much of the impetus for the passage of the legislation came from veterans` experiences after the First World War, when returning soldiers were not helped to re-enter civilian life and the workforce. The lack of support and the rise of the Great Depression led to public protests, including the Bonus Army demonstrators in 1932. The GI Act increased the number of Americans with college degrees after the war, as many veterans who would have re-entered the workforce opted for degrees. In 1947, which is considered the peak of use of the GI Act, about 49% of college admissions were for veterans. Congress did not include merchant navy veterans in the original GI bill, even though they were considered wartime military personnel under the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. When President Roosevelt (Democrat) received the G.I. in June 1944. Bill signed, he said, “I hope Congress will soon provide similar opportunities for members of the merchant navy who risked their lives repeatedly during the war for the well-being of their country. Now that the youngest Second World War Veterans are over 90 years old, efforts have been made to recognize the contributions of the merchant navy by providing certain benefits to the remaining survivors.
In 2007, three different bills were introduced in Congress to address this issue, one of which passed only in the House of Representatives. [37] The Second World War Merchant Seamen Thank You Act, 2007 states that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs will pay the Secretary of Veterans Affairs a monthly benefit of $1,000 to each person who served between December 7, 1941 and December 31, 1941. By December 1946, he was a documented member of the U.S. Merchant Navy (including the Army Transport Service and the Naval Transport Service). This bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Bob Filner (D-California) in 2007 and passed the House but not the Senate, so it did not become law. [38] Another attempt to mention the merchant navy in the GI bill was the 21st Century GI Bill of Rights Act of 2007, introduced by the senator. Hillary Clinton, eligible for basic education assistance for armed forces or reserves deployed abroad after September 11, 2001: (1); or (2) remain in service for at least two years in total or be terminated prior to such period due to disability, hardship or certain illnesses. Eligible for 36 months of education assistance.
[39] Representative Jeff Miller (R-Florida) persuaded the House to facilitate access to the GI Bill by “reviewing honourable service as an inshore merchant seaman between December 7, 1941 and December 31, 1946, for the purposes of eligibility for veterans` benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977.” He passed the house and left no further. [40] President Obama marks the launch of the post-9/11 GI bill, which will provide comprehensive educational benefits to our veterans. The legislation will give our veterans the skills and training they need to succeed in the future and is part of the President`s plan to create a new foundation for the 21st century. 3 August 2009. [58] The original G.I. bill expired in 1956. [27] Since the original bill, various benefits have been offered to veterans, and these benefit packages are commonly referred to as updates to the GI Plans Act. The final bill offered immediate financial rewards to virtually all World War II veterans, avoiding the highly controversial deferred payment of First World War veterans` life insurance that had caused political turmoil in the 1920s and 1930s. [6] Benefits included low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business or farm, one year of unemployment benefits, and tuition and living expenses reserved for attending high school, college or vocational school.
These benefits were available to all veterans who had been on active duty for at least 90 days during the war years and who had not been dishonourably discharged. [7] In 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, also known as the Forever GI Bill.
