Courtesy of TPM:
President Obama spoke today about the new GI Bill at George Mason University in Virginia. The program will pay for in-state public school tuition for troops who have served since Sept. 11, 2001. Here's the official White House transcript:
...There are a couple of people here who deserve all the credit, because they got a very tough bill done -- and part of the reason they were able to get it done was just because of their extraordinary personal credibility. These are -- one is new to the Senate and one had been there a while, and yet together they formed an incredibly formidable team. They're both class acts. Please give a big round of applause to Virginia's own, John Warner and Jim Webb. (Applause.).
[...]
... we owe the same obligations to this generation of servicemen and women, as was afforded that previous generation. That is the promise of the post-1911 [sic] GI Bill. It's driven by the same simple logic that drove the first GI Bill -- you pick the school, we'll help pick up the bill. And looking out at the audience today, I'm proud to see so many veterans who will be able to pursue their education with this new support from the American people.
And this is even more important than it was in 1944. The first GI Bill helped build a post-war economy that has been transformed by revolutions in communications and technology. And that's why the post-1911 -- 9/11 GI Bill must give today's veterans the skills and training they need to fill the jobs of tomorrow. Education is the currency that can purchase success in the 21st century, and this is the opportunity that our troops have earned.
Great stuff, and a superb accomplishment by Jim Webb (and also John Warner). I'll post video as soon as it's available. In the meantime, you can read the entire speech by Barack Obama
here.
