U.S. Rep. John Tanner defended himself Wednesday against an advertisement by a veterans group calling for him to support a bill that would increase funding for veterans' college education.
Tanner, D-Union City, said he supports the new version of the GI bill that's expected to come before the U.S. House of Representatives today as part of a war funding measure. Tanner said he's always been in favor of a new GI bill, but that he wanted to make sure a plan had been developed to cover the cost.
The bill would essentially guarantee a full-ride scholarship to any in-state public university, along with a monthly housing stipend, for individuals who serve the military for at least three years. It's aimed at replicating the benefits awarded to veterans of World War II.
Tanner and other Democrats in the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition have proposed a tax increase on the wealthiest 1 percent as a way to pay for the bill, said Randy Ford, director of communications for Tanner. The coalition met with House leaders Tuesday to come up with the bill that will be considered today, he said.
Tanner's comments came in response to a full-page ad in Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Sun placed by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. The ad told readers to "demand Congressman Tanner support the new GI Bill."
The advertisement included a recent excerpt from congressional newspaper The Hill that quoted Tanner as saying "some of us oppose creating a new entitlement program in an emergency spending bill, whether it's butchers, bakers or candlestick makers."
Ford said the quote was taken out of context.
"What he was saying was that it doesn't matter what the type of program it is - that we have to figure out how to pay for it," Ford said.
"His concern was making sure (the government) paid for it and funded it so that the program would work," Ford added.
The advertisement was a way for the veterans group to bring attention to the ongoing debate about making college more affordable for veterans, said Patrick Campbell, legislative director for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
"We're just trying to put up pressure on Congress to hold their end of the bargain," Campbell said Wednesday.
Campbell said that the new bill comes at a time when many veterans from the Afghan and Iraq wars can't afford the increasing costs of higher education.
"We've seen what happens when we invest in our veterans," Campbell said. "In 1944 we invested in our veterans after World War II, and we got our best generation."
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. is pleased that the bill looks likely to pass in the House and will continue working on getting it through the Senate next week, he said.
"We have bipartisan support, and the bill is moving very quickly," Campbell said.
But Senate leaders said Wednesday that they reject the plan by House Democrats to add the surcharge on upper-income taxpayers to the war funding bill, which would provide $163 billion to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next year.
The tax increase would be a half-percentage point surcharge on income exceeding $500,000 for individuals and income above $1 million for couples. The surcharge would be used over a 10-year period to finance the proposed $52 billion increase in college aid for post-Sept. 11, 2001, veterans that has been added to the war funding measure.
The tax increase was inserted to mollify moderate House Democrats upset with Democratic leaders' original plan to simply add the big increase in benefits under the GI Bill to the near-record budget deficit. That would violate so-called pay-as-you-go budget rules that require new benefit programs to be "paid for" with accompanying revenue increases or spending cuts.
But Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. - a member of the Democratic leadership team - rejected the idea Wednesday, telling reporters that the additional veterans money is a cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
