NEW YORK - Today, by an overwhelming margin of 416-12, the House of Representatives voted in favor of a domestic spending provision of the war supplemental funding bill which includes a World War II-style GI Bill for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. This version of the bill was agreed upon by the House leadership and the White House in a deal brokered last night. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) applauds the extraordinary support that both Democrats and Republicans have shown for this critical legislation and the progress we've seen in the past 24 hours.

"This Sunday marks 64 years since President Roosevelt signed the original GI Bill into law and made education affordable for eight million World War II veterans. Thanks to the accord reached between House leadership and the White House, there is now a real chance that we could see a new GI Bill signed within days of this anniversary," said Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "IAVA is grateful to Congress and the President for putting partisan differences aside for the sake of our troops. We are arriving at a truly historic moment and we call on Congress and the White House to continue moving the GI Bill forward. We are poised to make history once again and create the next ‘Greatest Generation.' IAVA would like to thank its tens of thousands of supporters nationwide for their tireless efforts in the fight for a new GI Bill."

The GI Bill included in the war supplemental funding bill voted on today includes the entire World War II-style GI Bill that IAVA has been championing for over a year. The final bill will also allow service members who stay in the military to transfer their education benefits to their spouses and children. The next steps in the GI Bill fight will be for the Senate to sign off on this version of the supplemental and get this hard-fought legislation to the President's desk. Much more information is at www.GIBill2008.org.

James Peake is a man with a plan – and it truly is a sorry one.

Peake is George W’s secretary of veteran affairs, and he has recently issued an edict banning voter registration efforts inside veterans hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, and homeless shelters. Yes, veterans who were sent to war in the name of defending freedom; veterans who did their duty, with many suffering physical and mental harm; veterans whom Bush tells us we must honor – those veterans are to be barred by their own agency from getting the help they need to participate in America’s political process.

All across the country, both non-partisan groups and political groups of all stripes have routinely been allowed inside these public facilities to help vets register. However, Peake now wants to shut democracy’s door on our country's ailing veterans.

The agency’s May 5 directive reads like a page of newspeak ripped from Orwells’s 1984. It opens with a shining declaration that VA policy is “to assist patients who seek to exercise their right to register and vote.” Then, in a clanging autocratic reversal, it declares: “However, due to Hatch Act requirements and to avoid disruptions to facility operations, voter registration drives are not permitted.”

The Hatch Act? That’s the law that bans federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity. Maybe Secretary Peake is unaware that the patients under his care are not federal employees. They’re veterans, with full Constitutional rights. Secondly, would someone please inform the obviously-befuddled secretary that registering people to vote is not a partisan activity?

In fact, maybe you’d like to inform him yourself and also suggest that he get out of the way of groups helping vets exercise their freedoms. Contact Secretary Peake at : 202-273-4800.