The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is holding a hearing Thursday on the G.I. Bill.

AARON GLANTZ
Author of the forthcoming book The War Comes Home: Washington’s Battle Against America’s Veterans, Glantz reported extensively from Iraq as an unembedded journalist from 2003 to 2005. He has been covering U.S. war veterans since his return.

He is also author of the recent article “ McCain’s Plan to Privatize Veterans’ Health Care.”

Glantz said today: “Since taking office eight years ago, George Bush has consistently enriched friendly contractors at the expense of wounded veterans. His outsourcing of the G.I. Bill’s administration comes after the scandalous effects of the privatization of whole sections of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. … It’s also worth noting that Bush’s Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake was a top executive at QTC Management Inc., one of the leading contractors at the VA and a likely recipient of contracts coming from the G.I. Bill’s privatization.”

SUZANNE METTLER
Author of Soldiers to Citizens: The G.I. Bill and the Making of the Greatest Generation, Mettler is professor of government at Cornell University.

She said today: “My research on the original G.I. Bill found that recipients were keenly aware that government had made a transformative difference in their lives; the experience frequently led them to long-term involvement as active citizens, in both politics and civic organizations.

“When you have programs administered through various private actors, independent of whether they are effective, that sense is lessened. The government has actually done a good job of administering the G.I. Bill. The Webb legislation goes a long way to bring the G.I. Bill back to its World War II generosity and inclusivity; it is important that we get its implementation right.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167