<div class="xtend"><a id="pl.1.1"></a><var>1.1</var>A resolution<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>exhorting Congress to reform the federal Montgomery GI Bill for the Selected <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>Reserves to permit members of the National Guard and reserves who have been <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>mobilized into federal active duty in support of current wars to receive and use their <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>federal educational benefits following separation from active reserve status and final <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>discharge from the military.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>WHEREAS, the reserve component of the United States Armed Forces, consisting of the <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var>National Guard and other reserves, comprises 1.1 million citizen-soldiers, or nearly  45 percent of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>total United States military forces; and  <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>WHEREAS, since the 9/11 terrorists attacks and the commencement of the wars in <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>Afghanistan and Iraq, over 550,000 members of the National Guard and reserves have been called <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>to federal active duty in support of those wars; and  <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>WHEREAS, those reserve component troops have shared fully in the fighting and other <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>dangerous supporting military roles in those wars, and also comprise a proportionate share of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>United States military casualties; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>WHEREAS, many of those reserve component troops have been mobilized multiple <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>times for the current wars, in many cases for as much as 18 months of active military service <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>for each deployment; and  <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>WHEREAS, upon enlistment in the military, those reserve component troops were promised <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>certain postsecondary educational benefits, including 36 months of educational assistance under <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.21"></a><var>1.21</var>the federal program entitled the Montgomery GI Bill for the Selected Reserves, or MGIB-SR; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>WHEREAS, MGIB-SR Program benefits terminate upon the separation of the National <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>Guard or reserve member from active-reserve service, which typically occurs at the end of the <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>person��������s sixth year of military service, unless the member reenlists; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>WHEREAS, due to lengthy and frequent mobilizations into active military service, many <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>National Guard and reserve members are unable to receive and use their promised MGIB-SR <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>benefits; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.7"></a><var>2.7</var>WHEREAS, the citizen-soldiers losing those promised benefits are the very patriots who <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.8"></a><var>2.8</var>have provided the most national service and sacrifice in the current wars; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.9"></a><var>2.9</var>WHEREAS, Congress has now delayed nearly five years without extending the time-frame <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.10"></a><var>2.10</var>for reserve component members to use these promised educational benefits; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.11"></a><var>2.11</var>WHEREAS, ranking members of Congress itself have gone on record as decrying this <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.12"></a><var>2.12</var>structured loss of educational benefits as "Deplorable and unconscionable"; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.13"></a><var>2.13</var>WHEREAS, the Legislature and Governor of the State of Minnesota also decry as <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.14"></a><var>2.14</var>"Deplorable and unconscionable" this structured loss of the promised educational benefits for our <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.15"></a><var>2.15</var>dedicated and patriotic citizen-soldiers; NOW, THEREFORE,  <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.16"></a><var>2.16</var>BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it strongly and urgently <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.17"></a><var>2.17</var>demands that Congress and the President move with all haste to reform the MGIB-SR Program <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.18"></a><var>2.18</var>to permit members of the National Guard and other military reserves who have served in active <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.19"></a><var>2.19</var>military duty to use their promised educational benefits following military service, irrespective of <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.20"></a><var>2.20</var>whether or not those patriotic citizen-soldiers choose to reenlist in the National Guard or reserves.<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.21"></a><var>2.21</var> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress and the President should make such reform <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.22"></a><var>2.22</var>retroactively applicable to all National Guard and reserve members who have served in active <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.23"></a><var>2.23</var>military duty since 9/11.<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.24"></a><var>2.24</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.25"></a><var>2.25</var>directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.26"></a><var>2.26</var>States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.27"></a><var>2.27</var>of the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Armed <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.28"></a><var>2.28</var>Services, the chair of the House Committee on Armed Services, and Minnesota's Senators and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.29"></a><var>2.29</var>Representatives in Congress.<br />
         		
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