FOXNews.com: Senate votes to prevent cuts to military tuition assistance, meat inspectors

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Senate votes to prevent cuts to military tuition assistance, meat inspectors Mar 20th 2013, 19:29 Published March 20, 2013 FoxNews.com The Senate endorsed a measure Wednesday intended to restore money for the military's tuition assistance program in the face of the automatic budget cuts known as sequester. The measure, pushed by Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., was approved in voice vote as an amendment to a government funding bill that still awaits passage. Obama administration officials have been challenged on a host of sequester-related cuts, from a decision to release low-priority illegal immigrants from Southwest jails to a decision to suspend White House tours. The cuts, which kicked in this month, were the result of a bipartisan deficit-cutting deal struck in 2011 between the White House and Congress. Both sides thought they would be able to decide on more acceptable cuts in time to replace the sequester's across-the-board cuts to the military and discretionary programs. They failed. The Army, Marines and Air Force had pulled back on the tuition assistance program for this fiscal year in response to the sequester. The Marine Corps said in a statement that it is trying to preserve "essential programs" and that leadership "remains committed to providing opportunities to Marines as they pursue their educational goals." "Education counselors are available to assist Marines with their education choices including providing information about other education programs," the statement said, noting there are "other education funding options such as the GI Bills, grants, scholarships and loans that can support a broader continuum of learning and educational goals." The Army program gives soldiers as much as $4,500 annually to take courses, at accredited schools, toward high school and college diplomas. Army officials could not give a specific amount on how much the cuts would save, but said 201,000 soldiers used the program in fiscal 2012 at the cost of $373 million.

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