Senate blocks McCain-backed GI bill

The Senate on Wednesday rejected an amendment supported by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to help veterans returning from Iraq get access to higher education.

By a 55-42 vote, the Senate blocked the amendment, authored by McCain ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), from being added to an unrelated bill giving public safety workers the right to unionize.

{mosads}McCain and Graham are opposed to a broader Democratic GI bill of rights, authored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), which Democrats plan to insert into a massive emergency war spending bill that will hit the Senate floor next week. Democrats accused Republicans of hijacking the Senate floor and forcing a vote on the Graham amendment to shield McCain from attacks for opposing the broader Democratic plan.

“Sen. McCain is looking for political cover here in a very difficult situation, and so what he’s done is try to hijack another bill,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), the Democratic front-runner. “He’s trying to bring his version of the GI bill to a vote on the Senate floor, so he can say he at least tried.”

But Republicans said the move was necessary to show that there were two sides to the debate since Democrats will likely try to prevent Republicans from adding amendments to the emergency spending bill that will include the Webb language.

“This process of making Republicans have to vote for a mandatory spending bill or be seen as not liking veterans on a supplemental bill related to the war is not right and is not going to stand,” Graham said. “Me putting it on this bill is not what we need to be doing, but it is the only opportunity I had because you can’t amend the supplemental to express there is a different way.” 

Graham’s plan would give $2,000 in monthly benefits to veterans who have served 12 years or longer.

The Webb plan, modeled after the GI Bill from World War II, would ensure that veterans receive educational benefits for 36 months, including the full cost of tuition, the cost of purchasing books and a monthly stipend. But some Republicans have objected to the cost and scope of the measure.

The Webb legislation is expected to be added to the supplemental bill. House leaders agreed to add a provision taxing individuals who make more than $500,000 and couples who make more than $1 million to pay for the Webb measure, which is projected to cost $52 billion over 10 years. It's unlikely that the offset would survive in the Senate, and Democratic leaders said they would review the measure after the House approves the plan, which could be as soon as Thursday. The Senate Appropriations Committee plans to mark up its own supplemental bill Thursday, with the Webb GI bill, but likely with no offsets.