I received an email from the Rick Noriega campaign yesterday. Its sole purpose was to inform us supporters of Noriega that his November opponent, John Cornyn, the junior senator from Texas, remains at odds with the people who have gone to war since 9/11.
Whatever your opinion of whether the war in Iraq is just or moral (I still can’t find anyone opposed to the Afghan war), the men and women who went off to fight that war deserve our support, not only when they are in theater, but when they have rotated back to America.
And when they have left military service.
Enter Senator Jim Webb’s S. 22, the “Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007”. This is a bill that establishes a program of educational assistance for veterans of Post 9/11 wars. It amends the GI Bill to provide up to 3 years of assistance in getting a education and training after graduation from high school. It encourages veterans who are high school dropouts to get that high school diploma so that they qualify for this program.
It is a good, solid pro-education bill. Solid pro-veteran bill. A win-win for America.
Here, I could see a list of 56 senators who have signed on as co-sponsors. It is a bipartisan list.
But John Cornyn’s name does not appear on that list. Big surprise, huh?
John Cornyn, our Texas senator that sat out the Vietnam War with his 2-S student deferment (while others born the year of Cornyn’s birth were drafted and served in Vietnam), has not signed on as a co-sponsor for this bill, just as he refused to support our troops. He has actually voted against bills that provided funds for enhanced body armor for our troops, voted against the bill that allowed our troops to rest and recuperate at home an equal amount of time that they were in a war zone.
John Cornyn makes himself available for photo ops with uniformed troops but won’t support them when push comes to shove. This has to change, and Rick Noriega has thrown down the gauntlet by asking us to send emails to Cornyn demanding that he show his support by signing as a cosponsor to S. 22, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007.
Click here to sign this petition.
Why has Cornyn refused to support this bill? It all comes back to the Bush Rubberstamp that Cornyn carries around. The Bush Regime opposes this bill. What forever for? This is either going to make you laugh in disgust or fly off the handle in rage, as quoted from Noriega’s email message:
Whatever your opinion of whether the war in Iraq is just or moral (I still can’t find anyone opposed to the Afghan war), the men and women who went off to fight that war deserve our support, not only when they are in theater, but when they have rotated back to America.
And when they have left military service.
Enter Senator Jim Webb’s S. 22, the “Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007”. This is a bill that establishes a program of educational assistance for veterans of Post 9/11 wars. It amends the GI Bill to provide up to 3 years of assistance in getting a education and training after graduation from high school. It encourages veterans who are high school dropouts to get that high school diploma so that they qualify for this program.
It is a good, solid pro-education bill. Solid pro-veteran bill. A win-win for America.
Here, I could see a list of 56 senators who have signed on as co-sponsors. It is a bipartisan list.
But John Cornyn’s name does not appear on that list. Big surprise, huh?
John Cornyn, our Texas senator that sat out the Vietnam War with his 2-S student deferment (while others born the year of Cornyn’s birth were drafted and served in Vietnam), has not signed on as a co-sponsor for this bill, just as he refused to support our troops. He has actually voted against bills that provided funds for enhanced body armor for our troops, voted against the bill that allowed our troops to rest and recuperate at home an equal amount of time that they were in a war zone.
John Cornyn makes himself available for photo ops with uniformed troops but won’t support them when push comes to shove. This has to change, and Rick Noriega has thrown down the gauntlet by asking us to send emails to Cornyn demanding that he show his support by signing as a cosponsor to S. 22, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007.
Click here to sign this petition.
Why has Cornyn refused to support this bill? It all comes back to the Bush Rubberstamp that Cornyn carries around. The Bush Regime opposes this bill. What forever for? This is either going to make you laugh in disgust or fly off the handle in rage, as quoted from Noriega’s email message: “The Bush Administration opposes Senator Webb's GI Bill because they fear soldiers will leave the military to attend college. As someone who has defended this nation, I'm outraged by the notion that we should limit benefits in civilian life to force our troops to stay in the military.”So not only does the Bush Regime run his troops into the ground with 3, 4 or even 5 rotations into battle zones, he wants them to keep on going instead of leaving the military to get an education. An education to give themselves, and their families, a better life. An education that they most certainly deserve.
It’s just plain awful and our senator is playing right along. Why not help out? Why not send a message to Cornyn that we are sick of his hypocritical words of support for our troops?
It’s free and you don’t get hit with a pitch for a campaign contribution. So why not?
4 comments:
not only is cornyn MIA on the bill: old-as-the-hills mccain is missing, too.
it's not that he hasn't done it yet. he flat out refuses.
My understanding is that McCain is putting out a bill that will offer incentives for servicemen to stay in the military.
A sort of anti-GI bill, if you will.
I wonder if any of those guys realize that not only is Webb's bill a reward for those who have already seen military service post 9/11, but for those who have yet to join. An added incentive to enlist.
The other thing that may be important here is the economic lift that it would give our country. After WWII, the GI's that came back and went to college created the prosperity that we fondly remember as the fifties. It really created the American middle class.
At a time when education and expertise are at a premium to compete in a global economy, a wholesale raising of the loaf, if you will, would benefit all of us.
A wave of higher ed also might help all of us cope with the difficulties that these young veterans may experience as they return after the trauma of several deployments. Many of them will have physical or emotional challenges, or both, and the whole back to school thing would allow them a productive new focus.
Not all reservists are about economic gain, but many are--lots do it just to go to college, and come from communities that would benefit from increased skills and more education. Lots of synergy here; again, benefit for all of us...
It is also a drop in the bucket, compared to the money they are spending on the war.
No matter what your political views are Cronyn, McCain, and every Republican should be in support of this bill. My nephew is only 20 years old and currently oversees protecting our country I would like to think when he comes back home he has the support he needs from this country to continue on with a successful and honorable life. I agree with all of the points listed above that its almost nonsensical to refuse to sign. I believe in whole heartedly supporting our troops in every aspect, we cannot as a country forget about them once they have done the most notable task any man could sign up for. Sen. Cornyn needs to take a look as this video and maybe find a little bit more inspiration in his heart.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nTzATHLOGWY
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