For Immediate Release

May 15, 2008

Contact:        Mark Bergman

                202-225-5206 (office)

Congressman Hodes Votes for Safe, Swift, Smart Redeployment of our Troops, to Create New Veterans Benefits

Washington, DC--- Today, Congressman Paul Hodes voted against giving a blank check to the Bush administration to continue to prosecute the War in Iraq unchecked and voted for a sequence of events to bring our troops home from the ongoing conflict.

“The War in Iraq has been a continued strain on our military and on our economy,” Congressman Paul Hodes said. “We need a safe, swift and smart resolution to the War in Iraq and we can no longer continue to give the Bush administration a blank check to conduct this war.

“I visited Iraq in February, and what I saw first-hand strengthened my resolve to ensure that we take care of our returning veterans and find a sequence that gets the Iraqis to step up to their responsibilities and allows us to redeploy from there — because we can’t keep having our soldiers serving as a crutch for the Iraqi government. This is the only way that we can get the Iraqis to embrace a political solution. And a political solution, not a military one, is the only solution in Iraq,” Congressman Hodes added.

Congressman Paul Hodes also voted to provide funding for the new GI Bill, which fully restores GI education benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to the level available after World War II. The new GI bill restores full, four-year college scholarships to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to help make them part of an economic recovery like the veterans of World War II.

It will give our returning troops the tools to succeed after their service and make military service more attractive as we work to rebuild our military, and strengthen our sagging economy.  Under the new GI bill, service members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, who have served 3 years on active duty, would receive benefits to cover the costs of a four-year education up to the level of the most expensive in-state public school.

“Our returning veterans deserve every available benefit and this new GI Bill of Rights, that I am proud to be a co-sponsor of, will help our returning veterans get the educational benefits that they have earned by serving our country with honor and distinction,” Congressman Paul Hodes concluded.