Last week, Montana's only Congressman Dennis Rehberg voted against the 21st Century G.I. Bill. This is a bipartisan piece of legislation that will go a long way to helping our troops who have served since 9/11.

The bill won't make anyone rich; that's not why a veteran raises his or her right hand in the first place. But it will pay for the cost of tuition and fees at any in-state public college or university, and it offers a modest monthly stipend for living expenses. The cost: about $5 billion a year - or less than what we spend in two weeks in Iraq. Now that's not cheap, but I don't believe in being cheap when we're talking about our veterans.

But Dennis Rehberg voted no. He can find the money in the federal budget for special-interest projects, but he can't find the money to help heroes get a decent public education. That's not the leadership we deserve. We deserve better than that, and more importantly, veterans deserve better than that.

It wasn't enough for Rehberg to just vote no, though. He promised, back on April 24, that getting this legislation passed was going to be his number one priority this year. In other words, he tried to take credit for being in favor of the troops, but then when the rubber hit the road and he had to cast his vote yes or no, he pulled a 180.

He went back on his own words, on his promise to the people of Montana , and on the promise we all owe to our men and women who served. Why did he do it? He did it so he could be on the same side as the president, who said he's going to veto this bill.

Let that sink in for a second. President Bush is going to veto this bill. And Dennis Rehberg is going to be right by President Bush's side, leading the charge to sustain that veto and to deprive vets of a chance for a real education.

President Bush and Dennis Rehberg have voted for literally hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate welfare, bridges to nowhere, and a war without end; but they can't rustle up enough money so that American heroes can afford the education they've earned.

People have been talking a lot about change this year. But sometimes in all the talk, we lose sight of what change really means. Last week, Dennis Rehberg showed us what it can mean this November. Change means that the men and women who put their lives on the line for us overseas can rest just a little easier when they come home. Change means that when our heroes return from Iraq and Afghanistan, the rest of the community comes together to support them, just like we should.

Change means a new direction in politics, where actions and words line up together, and politicians are held to account for the things they say.

More than 60 years ago, Congress passed the Montgomery G.I. Bill. It was one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation to ever come out of Washington, and it put millions of veterans through school. But education has changed since 1945, and it's long past time to improve the G.I. Bill to reflect the new reality. We owe a debt to our men and women in uniform. Let's pay that debt, for a change. Let's make the 21st Century G.I. Bill law.

John Mahan is the past National Commander of the VFW, former VA Undersecretary for Memorial Affairs, served as National Chair for Veterans during the Kennedy and Johnson presidential campaigns, and is a World War II veteran. He lives in Helena.