Congressman Becerra Delivers the Democratic Radio Address

"Good morning. This is Congressman Xavier Becerra from Los Angeles.

"This week a trusted ally, Israel, celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding in 1948. Around the world, the 1940s were a tumultuous and trying time for liberty. And the man remembered for giving America the New Deal, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, gave our bravest citizens new hope when he signed into law the GI Bill of Rights of 1944. That watershed law brought with it a solemn promise to our soldiers: now that you've come home, we will not let you down.

"Within three years of the enactment of the GI Bill of Rights, half of all Americans in college were veterans. Nearly 8 million of World War II's veterans had received an education or training because of this law. Two million, four hundred thousand home loans for veterans were financed through the Veterans Administration.

"From President Roosevelt's promise of a New Deal for America's GIs was born the middle class. Our economy grew, and our nation, armed with a growingly educated people, became the world's powerhouse.

"President Roosevelt knew that the veterans of World War I were hardly given a handshake when they returned home from combat. He understood that yesterday's thinking wasn't going to honor and protect the heroes of his day. In his own words, our veterans 'have been compelled to make greater economic sacrifice and every other kinds of sacrifice than the rest of us, and are entitled to definite action.'

"Sixty-four years later, we find ourselves in the midst of another war, where once again, our brave soldiers have crossed an ocean to face hostile fire. In Iraq and Afghanistan 4,575 American men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice. Thirty-two thousand have been scarred and wounded. And still to this day, we don't know when our troops will come home.

"But we do know that America must be ready to receive them.

"Last year, the New Direction Congress made the largest investment in our veterans in history -- an increase that President Bush, incidentally, called 'excessive.' What is excessive is that one of every three veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, or both. There is nothing excessive in securing for our wounded warriors the best health care that they have earned and the chance to go on and live the life they deserve.

"Incredibly, President Bush's budget cuts veterans funding by $20 billion over five years. For the sixth year in a row, his budget also raises health care costs on 1.4 million veterans.

"This is yesterday's thinking at its worst, learning nothing from the lessons of Roosevelt. Our men and women in uniform have stepped up to the plate for the good of our country. It is time we step up to the plate for the good of our veterans.

"On Thursday, the New Direction Congress passed the GI Bill for the 21st Century. Like Roosevelt's GI Bill, our legislation ensures that our veterans can attend college. The GI Bill for the 21st Century will strengthen the middle class, and it will make our heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan the front line of our American economic recovery.

"You don't need to be stuck in the past to learn from it. FDR's lesson to us was that for every dollar America invested in the original GI Bill, $7 were returned to the American economy. That's not only smart economic policy, but it lives up to President Roosevelt's moral ideal of giving, quote, 'emphatic notice to the men and women in our armed forces that the American people do not intend to let them down.'

"President Bush and our Republican colleagues in Congress should join Democrats to make these policies the law of the land so that a grateful nation can repay its heroes. Indeed, if America is to remain the undisputed leader in the manufacturing of ideas and opportunity, education must be our top priority.

"With the GI Bill for the 21st Century, Democrats in Congress have sent a powerful message to our men and women in uniform, and to the rest of the world, that we intend to lead by example.

"My friends, Memorial Day is fast approaching. As we reach out to embrace our loved ones or their memory, let us feel the pride in knowing we did everything we could to honor and repay them for their service. For our veterans and their children, that's the New Deal and the new way of thinking for the 21st Century. As Democrats, that's our commitment to the American people and our future.

"This is Congressman Xavier Becerra. Thanks for listening."