VA Loan Updates

WASHINGTON - Arkansas’ senators will attempt this week to advance legislation to improve on what they see as flaws in the military’s educational benefits program for veterans.

The measures would give reservists and National Guard troops a longer time period to cash in on their benefits and would streamline how the government manages GI Bill program.

Another allows former troops to take GI bill tuition money in a lump sum to pay for short-term programs like truck-driving school.

Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., said they plan to introduce their bills as amendments to a $648 billion Department of Defense spending bill.

The broad legislation to authorize the Pentagon’s annual budget was revived in the Senate this week after debate stalled in July over amendments relating to the war in Iraq.

Pryor said Wednesday he believes the bill has a better chance for passage this time around.

“We had this same bill on the floor several weeks ago, but it got bogged down on the issue of Iraq,” he said. “I think that’s unfortunate. We need to try to take the politics out of Iraq and it not be a political issue.”

Nevertheless, partisan rancor regarding Iraq returned Wednesday as the Senate, voting largely along party lines, killed legislation to require minimum rest periods for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration has accused the Senate of trying to “micromanage” the war effort.

The 56-44 vote fell four short of the three-fifths majority needed to approve the measure. Pryor and Lincoln both voted for it.

Pryor said the measure would help boost troop morale.

“We have stretched our military very thin right now,” he said. “In a way, this will be better for the military.”

One Pryor amendment would ensure Army participation in an aircraft procurement program. The program’s future is in jeopardy without joint participation of the Army and Air Force, he said.

Maj. Gen. William Wofford, adjutant general of the Arkansas National Guard, said the Army has an “immediate need” for the aircraft, unlike the Air Force, which is not expected to purchase planes for several years.

Pryor also is pressing for a Senate vote on his proposal to give active duty soldiers an additional five days of leave time for active duty troops with 15-month deployments. Leave is currently 15 days.

Lincoln and Reps. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, and John Boozman, R-Rogers, in January introduced the GI Bill modernization effort.

It allows reservists and Guard troops to use their education benefits for up to 10 years after they leave military service. Currently, educational benefits end when nonactive duty troops separate from the military.

It has been praised by more than 40 military, veterans and education groups. The Pentagon opposes the bill, fearing it would adversely impact recruitment and retention of active duty forces.

The lawmakers also are seeking a change to how benefits are administered, because the Department of Defense has oversight of reserve programs. Veterans Affairs manages post-career benefits for active duty troops.

The House in May adopted legislation to transfer oversight of the reserve to Veterans Affairs.

Lincoln’s spokeswoman said the amendment in the Senate has more than a dozen sponsors and could be considered this week.

Meanwhile, Pryor and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., are trying to line up support to maintain the Joint Cargo Aircraft program.

The pair sent a letter to colleagues last week asking for support to strike a position to eliminate the Army from the program. Without the joint venture, Pryor said Army National Guard units could lose 54 planes and Air National Guard units about two dozen.

The National Guard Association backs the proposal.

The Joint Cargo Aircraft is smaller than the C-130, but their engines are essentially the same, Pryor said. C-130s are based at the Little Rock Air Force Base, making it a logical choice to house the new aircraft, he added.

“We have the space there on the base, we have the airspace, we have the trainers available,” Pryor said.

Wofford said the Army’s fleet of cargo planes needs replacement. And while the Arkansas Guard is not in line to receive one of the first Joint Cargo planes, the aircraft will still be vital for emergency response nationwide.

Also, Pryor said he will try again this year to expand the number of job training programs eligible for lump-sum benefit payments to troops.

His effort in 2006 died in committee.

Under the plan, veterans could use their benefits for job training schools in high-growth sectors. Those include trucking, construction, financial services and homeland security.

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