An Ironton man seeking a G.I. bill for cars is hoping to enlist the public’s help in getting Senator Sherrod Brown to take steps to enact it.

Cornell Fish hopes that lawmakers consider his plan to help veterans while putting automakers back to work and boosting the economy. The man said he had been working fruitlessly to get his idea noticed for two years until he finally received a recent letter from Brown’s office stating that his idea had merit and that it would be looked into further.

“I really felt really good, extremely good.” Fish said of reading the letter. “I have been trying for a couple of years. It pleased me very much.”

Now, the man is requesting the residents from all over the region call Brown’s office and request that it be enacted. While Fish may not be able to do anything further with the bill, Brown can and that’s why he Fish wants as many people as possible to call Brown’s office. Under Fish’s plan, a law that provides disabled veterans with missing extremities from combat $4,000 to outfit a vehicle for the disabled veteran would be amended to guarantee all veterans $4,000 for the purchase of a new or used car. Fish also wants the G.I. Bill to be amended to include that the government guarantees a loan for the cost of the purchases of a new or used car up to five years old. The cost of the program would be negligible, he said, and the plan would include over 43 million veterans.

Funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program would be used to initiate the program.

Fish said his idea has three benefits: helping veterans purchase new vehicles, help put auto workers and auto parts providers back to work and to encourage banks to loan to veterans and others.

Fish, who worked in a Detroit factory after high school, said the recent troubles of the auto industry hit close to home and he wanted to do something to help.

“I realized these people getting laid off are my old buddies,” Fish said. “I prayed about it and to be honest, God just gave (the idea) to me.”

Brown’s Washington D.C. office can be reached at (202) 224-2315.