Boccieri backs GI bill expansion

CLEVELAND (AP) — A Democratic state senator who was an Air Force Reserve pilot in Iraq is calling on President Bush and Sen. John McCain to rethink opposition to expanding the GI bill to guarantee full college scholarships for people with three years of military service.

John Boccieri, who is running for Congress in Northeast Ohio, said Friday in remarks prepared for the Democrats’ weekly radio address that the best way to honor soldiers’ sacrifice is to provide benefits they need after their service.

“If our veterans want to go to college, they should be able to do so the minute their boots hit the ground,” Boccieri said.

McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, opposes the expansion, as does the Pentagon, out of concern that providing such a benefit after only three years of service would encourage members of the military to leave after only one enlistment even as the U.S. fights in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Democratic-led Senate on Thursday passed the measure, sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., on a 75-22 vote, as 25 Republicans went against Bush’s opposition.

McCain and Republican colleagues proposed a bill to increase benefits in conjunction with a veteran’s length of service.

Boccieri, from New Middletown near Youngstown, is running against Republican state Sen. Kirk Schuring for the House seat of Rep. Ralph Regula, who is retiring.