III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 818 

Expressing support for and celebrating the 80th anniversary of the 

Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. BOOZMAN) 

submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for and celebrating the 80th anniversary 

of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944. 

Whereas, on July 28, 1943, in seeking a solution to integrate 

returning members of the Armed Forces into civilian life, 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for a comprehensive set of veterans benefits during a fireside chat saying, 

‘‘While concentrating on military victory, we are not neglecting the planning of the things to come . . . . Among 

many other things we are, today, laying plans for the return to civilian life of our gallant men and women in the 

Armed Services.’’; 

Whereas, on June 22, 1944, in demonstration of the full support of the United States for the transition of members 

of the Armed Forces to civilian life, President Franklin 

D. Roosevelt signed into law the Servicemen’s ReadjustVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Sep 17, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR818.ATS SR818

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•SRES 818 ATS 

ment Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 284, chapter 268), commonly 

known as the ‘‘GI Bill of Rights’’; 

Whereas the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 was the 

culmination of the tireless work and advocacy of veterans 

service organizations and Members of Congress; 

Whereas the Act made immediate financial support, transformative educational benefits, and home loan guarantees 

available to the approximately 16,000,000 veterans who 

served in the Armed Forces during World War II; 

Whereas the Act helped approximately 7,800,000 veterans 

enroll in post-secondary education or training, helped to 

democratize higher education in the United States, and 

caused total post-secondary education enrollment to grow 

exponentially from 1,676,856 in 1945, with veterans accounting for 5.2 percent of total post-secondary education 

enrollment, to 2,338,226 in 1947, with veterans accounting for 49.2 percent of the total; 

Whereas the Act contributed approximately 450,000 engineers, 240,000 accountants, 238,000 teachers, 91,000 

scientists, 67,000 doctors, 122,000 dentists, 17,000 writers and editors, and thousands of other professionals to 

the workforce of the United States and helped expand the 

middle class more than at any other point in the history 

of the United States; 

Whereas the Act expressed the duty, responsibility, and desire of a grateful United States to see to it that those 

who served on active duty in the Armed Forces are afforded every opportunity to become disciplined forces for 

prosperity and progress in the United States through 

economic opportunity and investment; 


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Whereas Congress passed subsequent Acts to provide educational assistance to new generations of veterans, including the Veterans’ Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966 

(Public Law 89–358), the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans’ 

Educational Assistance Act of 1977 (title IV of Public 

Law 94–502), the Veterans’ Educational Assistance Act 

of 1984 (title VII of Public Law 98–525), the Post-9/11 

Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (title V of 

Public Law 110–252), and the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Public Law 

115–48); 

Whereas, as of 2022, the Department of Veterans Affairs has 

paid more than $400,000,000,000 in educational assistance to approximately 25,000,000 veterans and their 

loved ones who continue to excel academically in post-secondary education; 

Whereas the Act created the Department of Veterans Affairs 

Home Loan Guarantee program, which, since 1944, has 

provided a pathway for more than 28,000,000 veterans to 

purchase a home guaranteed by the Department, the majority of which are purchased with no down payment; 

Whereas the Act improved health care opportunities for veterans by transferring medical facilities from the Army 

and the Navy and providing funding for hospitals of the 

Veterans Administration following the conclusion of hostilities of World War II; 

Whereas this combination of opportunities changed the social 

and economic fabric of the United States for the better, 

with a 1988 report from the Subcommittee on Education 

and Health of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress concluding that for every $1 the United States invested pursuant to the Act, a minimum of $5 and as 


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•SRES 818 ATS 

much as $12.50 was returned in growth to the United 

States; 

Whereas the Act led to the education of 14 Nobel laureates, 

24 Pulitzer Prize-winners, and three Supreme Court justices; 

Whereas nearly 1,300 Members of Congress served in the 

Armed Forces on or after June 22, 1944, and directly 

benefitted from the enactment of the Act; 

Whereas the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–48), commonly known 

as the ‘‘Forever GI Bill’’, was named after Harry W. 

Colmery of Topeka, Kansas, who was a former National 

Commander of The American Legion and is credited with 

drafting the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944; and 

Whereas June 22, 2024, is the 80th anniversary of the date 

on which President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the 

Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 into law: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors the achievements of the Servicemen’s 

3 Readjustment Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 284, chapter 

4 268), commonly known as the ‘‘GI Bill of Rights’’, 

5 in democratizing higher education, increasing home 

6 ownership, establishing greater citizenship through 

7 economic empowerment, and empowering a genera8 tion that would serve for decades to guide the trans9 formation of the United States into a global force 

10 for good; 


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1 (2) considers the veterans benefitting from the 

2 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 on the 80th 

3 anniversary of its enactment— 

4 (A) to be equal to the challenge of creating 

5 a lasting prosperity for the United States as 

6 their forebears; and 

7 (B) to have the opportunity to become the 

8 heirs to the Greatest Generation; 

9 (3) affirms the responsibility of Congress to be 

10 a faithful steward of educational assistance provided 

11 under laws administered by the Secretary of Vet12 erans Affairs to ensure that such assistance endures 

13 as an honorable investment of public dollars; and 

14 (4) encourages all people of the United States 

15 to celebrate June 22, 2024, as the 80th anniversary 

16 of the signing of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act 

17 of 1944 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

Æ 


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