GI Bill proves the merits of politica bipartisanship

Optimism about Washington's work can be hard to find. So the cheering last week was conspicuous by its rarity, as Congress passed and the president signed a bill that will substantially expand the help veterans receive for education.

It's no coincidence that the forces behind the legislation are senators less ideological than practical, both of them moderates, and both veterans of the Vietnam War. Sens. Chuck Hagel (a Republican) and Jim Webb (a Democrat) battled for months against the White House and GOP leadership to ensure that today's veterans receive benefits they deserve.

In the end, those two senators - with an assist from Sens. Frank Lautenberg and John Warner - convinced every reasonable man and woman on Capitol Hill of the rightness of their cause and even managed to get an initially hostile president to endorse it.

Together, the senators overcame virulent and partisan opposition in the House of Representatives and turned back a squishy alternative offered by Sen. John McCain.

The result, now, is that veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan - and anybody who spends three years on active duty after 9/11 - will receive tuition aid equal to the most expensive public university in their home state.

Another victory, the least important one, is for the freshman Webb, who spent his first 18 months in office pushing and prodding for the legislation, even when it had little to no support. He was gracious about the victory, including to people who tried to kill the legislation to score political points.

"We have delivered this new, robust GI Bill with a great deal of collaboration and cooperation among members of the Senate, members of the House, and with the guidance and support of all of our nation's leading veterans' groups," he said in a statement.

Even as the legislation provides real and new options for veterans, as well as for their families, it also shows Washington that the future doesn't have to be dictated by chest-thumping and demagoguery.

"It also gives me confidence and renewed hope," said Webb, "that the Congress can begin working more effectively across party lines to do the work of the people."

Perhaps, if we're lucky, some of that hope will rub off.