Senator Carper Highlights the 70th Anniversary of the G.I. Bill

WASHINGTON- Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), released the following statement to highlight the upcoming 70-year anniversary of the G.I. Bill, which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law on June 22, 1944.

“Passing the G.I. Bill is one of the smartest things Congress has ever done. The legislation sent millions of returning WWII veterans who never dreamed they could afford the costs of higher education to our nation’s colleges and universities, and helped usher in an unprecedented period of continued economic expansion in the 20^th Century.

“Since 1944, roughly 20 million Americans have taken advantage of the G.I. Bill’s education and training benefits. I’m proud to count myself as one of them. I attended the Ohio State University on a Navy ROTC scholarship, and after three tours of duty in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, I went to graduate school at the University of Delaware on the G.I. Bill.

“Returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, today’s veterans have access to a new and improved educational benefit—the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.   As with the first G.I. Bill, the post-9/11 benefit is helping veterans meet their post-service educational and career goals; however, there’s still room for improvement. We need to make sure that veterans are learning the skills they need to succeed in the civilian workforce and that they’re graduating without incurring unnecessary debt. I’ve held multiple hearings and introduced legislation designed to make sure veterans aren’t targeted by bad actors, and I will continue to make this issue a priority in this Congress.

“When FDR signed the G.I. Bill into law 70 years ago, he noted, ‘It gives emphatic notice to the men and women in our armed forces that the American people do not intend to let them down.’ As we celebrate the 70^th anniversary of this landmark legislation, it’s important for Congress to reflect on FDR’s unequivocal commitment to helping veterans. We have a moral responsibility not to let our veterans down, whether it comes to health care, housing, job-training or college education.

“As the year continues, I’ll be redoubling my efforts to build bipartisan consensus on these issues in the United States Senate.”