Title
Calling upon the United States Congress to pass the Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr. and Sgt. Joseph H. Maddox G.I. Bill Restoration Act.
Body
WHEREAS, The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, popularly known as the G.I. Bill, represented a promise to all who fought for our country that their service and sacrifice would be rewarded with a range of benefits, including low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to establish businesses and farms, unemployment compensation, and tuition assistance; and
WHEREAS, In practice, this opportunity for prosperity was denied to Black World War II veterans - a historical, generational injustice that Congressmen James E. Clyburn and Seth Moulton seek to correct with last month's introduction of the Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr. and Sgt. Joseph H. Maddox G.I. Bill Restoration Act, which they had previously introduced in the 117th Congress; and
WHEREAS, While the original G.I. Bill lifted up a generation of World War II veterans by empowering them to purchase homes and earn degrees, the discriminatory practices of the mid-20th century effectively closed these benefits off to Black veterans, thus denying them the opportunity to build the generational wealth that comes from homeownership and higher education; and
WHEREAS, The Sgt. Isaac Woodard, Jr. and Sgt. Joseph H. Maddox G.I. Bill Restoration Act seeks to right these wrongs and honor our nation's commitment to its veterans by extending access to the VA Loan Guaranty Program and the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill to surviving spouses and descendants, and by establishing a Blue-Ribbon Panel to study inequities in the distribution of benefits and assistance and make recommendations on how to repair them; and
WHEREAS, The postwar experiences of Sgts. Woodard and Maddox, two relatively unknown Black World War II veterans, are illustrative examples of the purpose of, and need for, the legislation named for them; and
WHEREAS, Fresh from his honorable discharge and still in uniform, Sgt. Woodard was t...
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