University Press of Mississippi Across the Aisle: The Seven-Year Journey of the Historic Montgomery GI Bill

Product Description Using gentle humor, some 450 visuals, and debate drawn from actual legislative events, the late U.S. Congressman G. V. ""Sonny"" Montgomery helps readers relive the Montgomery GI Bill's 1987 enactment, while learning each step of the way.Across the Aisle's extensive illustrative material brings the legislative process alive, as readers travel the historic legislative road with Congressman Montgomery himself as escort, storyteller, mentor, and colleagueCongressman Montgomery served his Mississippi constituents for thirty years. Twenty-eight of those years included service on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, fourteen years as its chairman. Montgomery and a handful of colleagues understood that the success of our all-volunteer military would hinge on a permanent ""GI Bill"" education program.Indeed the Montgomery GI Bill has proven to help America on many fronts, including post-secondary education and training, national security, military recruiting, workforce and youth development, economic competitiveness, and civic leadershipMontgomery's unique first-person account brings Washington, D.C., and lawmaking alive with enduring lessons in leadership, persuasion, civility, and that timeless virtue--perseverance. From the Inside Flap A case study in legislative leadership About the Author G. V. ""Sonny"" Montgomery (1920-2006), noted for his forty years of public service, represented Mississippi's Third District in Congress, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, authored the modern GI Bill of Rights, and worked tirelessly as a veterans' advocate.|Darryl Kehrer, Springfield, Virginia, possesses thirty-nine years of leadership experience in veterans' affairs and is the former public policy officer at the G. V. Montgomery Center for America's Veterans.|Michael McGrevey, Decatur, Mississippi, served as a chief financial management officer in the United States Air Force for twenty years and is a former vice president for Mississippi State University, where he cofounded the Montgomery Center.