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GI Bill
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., pressed Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week to increase college tuition benefits for those who served in the military after Sept. 11, 2001.
The average education benefit under the current GI Bill is approximately $6,000 per year, Webb said. Webb is sponsoring a bill that would cover the cost of attending the most expensive in-state public university.
"We've been trying to get people in the Department of Defense to give us a specific comment on this for more than a year now," Webb told Gates at an Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday.
Gates said he would take a close look at the bill and its budget implications.
"I will say, I'm not a manpower guy, but the GI Bill did pay for my Ph.D. at Georgetown," Gates said.
Budget Battle
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va, criticized President Bush's nearly $3.1 trillion budget proposal the day it was released, saying the administration created "budget deficits as far as the eye can see."
"This budget is just more of the same," Scott said. "It furthermore cuts health care for the needy to partially afford tax cuts for the wealthy."
The president's proposal estimates a budget surplus by 2012. He wants to cut $196 billion from Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years.
There are only two ways to cut those programs, Scott said - cover fewer people or cut reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals.
A decrease in proposed Homeland Security Department spending is also "a major concern to areas in Virginia," Scott said.
Shipbuilding Caucus
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., became the new co-chair of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus last week. The 98-member group works to support the shipbuilding industry and educate fellow House members on maritime issues.
Wittman wants the caucus to address the Navy's projection to add at least 30 ships to its fleet, he said.
"We are essentially behind the curve of what our ship capacity need is out there," Wittman said. "It's critical to make sure that as ships are phased out of the fleet because of their age, not only do we go ahead and replace those, but we look at the additional capacity we can add."
Wittman was elected in December to fill the seat of Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Va., who died in October. Davis founded the caucus in 2005 with Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss.
Out-of-State Business
Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Rick Boucher, D-Va., introduced legislation Thursday aimed at helping small businesses grow online.
The Business Activity Tax Simplification Act, cosponsored by Scott, would set a national standard for how states can tax out-of-state businesses.
Under the bill, companies could not be taxed for doing business in states where they are not physically located.
For example, if the Web site of a Virginia business is hosted on a server in another state, under current law, the other state could tax the Virginia company.
The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
--Neil Simon
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., pressed Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week to increase college tuition benefits for those who served in the military after Sept. 11, 2001.
The average education benefit under the current GI Bill is approximately $6,000 per year, Webb said. Webb is sponsoring a bill that would cover the cost of attending the most expensive in-state public university.
"We've been trying to get people in the Department of Defense to give us a specific comment on this for more than a year now," Webb told Gates at an Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday.
Gates said he would take a close look at the bill and its budget implications.
"I will say, I'm not a manpower guy, but the GI Bill did pay for my Ph.D. at Georgetown," Gates said.
Budget Battle
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va, criticized President Bush's nearly $3.1 trillion budget proposal the day it was released, saying the administration created "budget deficits as far as the eye can see."
"This budget is just more of the same," Scott said. "It furthermore cuts health care for the needy to partially afford tax cuts for the wealthy."
The president's proposal estimates a budget surplus by 2012. He wants to cut $196 billion from Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years.
There are only two ways to cut those programs, Scott said - cover fewer people or cut reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals.
A decrease in proposed Homeland Security Department spending is also "a major concern to areas in Virginia," Scott said.
Shipbuilding Caucus
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., became the new co-chair of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus last week. The 98-member group works to support the shipbuilding industry and educate fellow House members on maritime issues.
Wittman wants the caucus to address the Navy's projection to add at least 30 ships to its fleet, he said.
"We are essentially behind the curve of what our ship capacity need is out there," Wittman said. "It's critical to make sure that as ships are phased out of the fleet because of their age, not only do we go ahead and replace those, but we look at the additional capacity we can add."
Wittman was elected in December to fill the seat of Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Va., who died in October. Davis founded the caucus in 2005 with Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss.
Out-of-State Business
Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Rick Boucher, D-Va., introduced legislation Thursday aimed at helping small businesses grow online.
The Business Activity Tax Simplification Act, cosponsored by Scott, would set a national standard for how states can tax out-of-state businesses.
Under the bill, companies could not be taxed for doing business in states where they are not physically located.
For example, if the Web site of a Virginia business is hosted on a server in another state, under current law, the other state could tax the Virginia company.
The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
--Neil Simon
The Associated Press contributed to this report.