Title: Expressing support for the designation of the week of June 16 through June 23, 2019, as National GI Bill Commemoration Week and Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This resolution honors the achievements of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 in democratizing higher education and affirms Congress's responsibility to ensure that veterans' educational assistance endures as an honorable investment of public dollars.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 451 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 451

 Expressing support for the designation of the week of June 16 through 
 June 23, 2019, as National GI Bill Commemoration Week and Celebrating 
   the 75th Anniversary of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 19, 2019

Mr. David P. Roe of Tennessee (for himself, Mr. Takano, Mr. Bilirakis, 
   Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. Banks, and Mr. Bost) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing support for the designation of the week of June 16 through 
 June 23, 2019, as National GI Bill Commemoration Week and Celebrating 
   the 75th 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 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 
        Readjustment Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 284), more commonly known as the 
        ``G.I. Bill of Rights'';
Whereas such Act was the culmination of the tireless work and advocacy of 
        Veteran Service Organizations and Members of Congress;
Whereas such Act made immediate financial support, transformative educational 
        benefits, and home loan guarantees available to the 16,000,000 veterans 
        who served in the Armed Forces during World War II;
Whereas such Act helped 7,800,000 veterans enroll in post-secondary education or 
        training and democratize higher education in America and caused total 
        post-secondary education enrollment to grow exponentially from 1,676,856 
        in 1945, with veterans accounting for 5.2 percent of the total, to 
        2,338,226 in 1947, with veterans accounting for 49.2 percent of that 
        total;
Whereas such Act contributed 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 expanded the middle class more than 
        at any other point in American history;
Whereas such 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;
Whereas Congress enacted 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 (Public Law 94-502), the Veterans' 
        Educational Assistance Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-525), the Post-9/11 
        Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-252), and 
        the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Public 
        Law 115-247);
Whereas since the signing of such Act, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 
        has paid about $400 billion in educational benefits to 25 million 
        veterans and their loved ones who continue to excel academically in 
        post-secondary education;
Whereas such Act created the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Home Loan 
        Guarantee program, which, since 1944, has provided a pathway for 24 
        million veterans to purchase a home guaranteed by the Department, the 
        majority of which are purchased with no down payment;
Whereas such Act improved health care opportunities for veterans by transferring 
        medical facilities from the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy and providing 
        funding for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals;
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 in such 
        Act, $6.90 was returned in growth to the economy of the United States;
Whereas 1,262 Members of Congress served in the U.S. military on or after June 
        22, 1944, and, therefore, many Members of Congress directly benefitted 
        from the passage of this Act;
Whereas June 22, 2019, is the 75th Anniversary of the Act being signed into law 
        by President Franklin D. Roosevelt; and
Whereas the week of June 16 through June 23, 2019, is an appropriate week to 
        designate as ``National GI Bill Commemoration Week'': Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) honors the achievements of the Servicemen's 
        Readjustment Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 284) in democratizing higher 
        education, increasing home ownership, establishing greater 
        citizenship through economic empowerment, and empowering a 
        generation that would serve for decades to guide the 
        transformation of the United States into a global force for 
        good;
            (2) considers those veterans benefitting from the GI Bill 
        on this Anniversary to be equal to the challenge of creating a 
        lasting American prosperity as their forebears, and have the 
        opportunity to become the heirs to the Greatest Generation;
            (3) affirms the responsibility of Congress to be faithful 
        stewards of educational assistance provided under laws 
        administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure 
        that such assistance endures as an honorable investment of 
        public dollars; and
            (4) encourages all Americans to celebrate the 75th 
        Anniversary of the signing of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act 
        of 1944 (58 Stat. 284) by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
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