Legislative History
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), a decorated Vietnam veteran and former Secretary of the Navy, originally introduced the Senate bill the day after he was sworn in (on January 5, 2007) as S. 22. His principle co-sponsors included military veterans Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and John Warner (R-VA). A House companion bill was introduced by Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA). On September 12, 2007, the bill became a bipartisan initiative when Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) cosponsored the bill.
After earlier passing the House and Senate in different forms in May 2008 mainly with support from Democrats and a few Republicans, a bipartisan deal was brokered and the bill passed as an amendment to H.R. 2642, the FY08 Supplemental Appropriations Bill, commonly referred to as the War Funding Bill.
On June 19, 2008 the veteran education assistance benefits, along with 13-week unemployment benefit extension, passed as an amendment with a vote of 416-12. On June 26, the Senate voted 92-6 in favor of the final version of the bill. President George W. Bush signed H.R. 2642 into law on June 30, 2008.
Read more about this topic: Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act Of 2008
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