Mitch Landrieu: “I will make, just for the Record, a comment about the amendment that we are unable to accept because of its fairly high…”

“I will make, just for the Record, a comment about the amendment that we are unable to accept because of its fairly high cost--stipulated to be about $900 million. My staff has informed me and the staff for the committee on our side that this seems to be a very, very important issue to the rank and file. One of the more popular aspects of our bill is the fact that we are now going to allow, at some additional cost, but I, frankly, believe, and I think most Members on both sides believe, it is well worth it to allow this Montgomery GI bill to be transferred to spouses and children--perhaps the most important incentive for people to remain in the military and to be active participants for a longer period of time. I hope we will consider perhaps next year, if not this year, extending the same benefits to the Guard and Reserve. The retention issues are somewhat different, but let me say that the Guard and Reserve are very, very important components to our military forces as we redesign and reorganize our military and depend more on the Guard and Reserve to step in, particularly in terms of our peacekeeping missions.”