Nation owes veterans a renewed GI Bill

Bernard Layne, Las Vegas

Sunday, April 20, 2008 | 2:04 a.m.

A time has come when we as a people and a nation must look inward and examine the truth of who we are and what we have become. We have the opportunity, nay the responsibility, to provide some small measure of relief and assistance to those who have borne the burden of conducting and pursuing an unpopular war.

Now our representatives have before them legislation that would provide assistance to our veterans in further pursuit of their education. These courageous men and women interrupted their lives to answer the call to duty. They were not asked about their political affiliation, nor were they polled about their opinion concerning the validity of the decision to plunge the world into conflict. They performed in heroic fashion and made the country proud to be represented by their commitment to their responsibilities.

The passage of the GI Bill after World War II provided tremendous benefit to our country as well as to the recipients of these benefits. We are still reaping the advantages of a more educated, better informed, better prepared and more fruitful generation as a result of the passage of that legislation. Now we have a similar opportunity to benefit our nation and reward those who have made such sacrifices on our behalf. How can our representatives even hesitate to pass this bill? How can we, as a people, tolerate those who represent us resorting to partisanship and delaying passage of this legislation? How can party affiliation, whichever party is involved, prevail over the welfare of the entire nation?

When we are confronted with questions of this magnitude, we must ask ourselves the answer to this unbelievable truth about ourselves: Do we put self-interest well beyond the welfare of our fellow man and the nation itself? Are we equal to the standards set by our forefathers? Will we at the very least ask our representatives and ourselves to face the question and question the truth?