"Webb's bill has 51 co-sponsors, including nine Republicans. Webb, a former secretary of the Navy, said he may have to get 60 co-sponsors to ensure Senate passage, but then added that many more Republicans could vote for the bill if McCain endorsed it."

Source:

http://thehill.com/leading-the...

Here is a very good history of the first GI bill that was passed towards the end of WWII:

http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bi...

What is interesting to note are the similarities in the difficulties getting the legislation passed in the Congress.  You would have thought that would have been a no-brainer, considering what "the greatest generation" sacrificed to save the world.  Today you would think that our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans would have no trouble getting the benefits that they so richly deserve.

Most important were the social and economic consequences of the first GI bill.

Before the war, college and homeownership were, for the most part, unreachable dreams for the average American. Thanks to the GI Bill, millions who would have flooded the job market instead opted for education. In the peak year of 1947, veterans accounted for 49 percent of college admissions. By the time the original GI Bill ended on July 25, 1956, 7.8 million of 16 million World War II veterans had participated in an education or training program.

With the loss of manufacturing jobs in our country and the deterioration of lower middle class family incomes, do you suppose that a new GI bill would be beneficial to the entire country as a whole?