Veterans Lash Out at Loss of Voice on Capitol Hill ... (Outrageous)

[RedEarth]

Veterans Lash Out at Loss of Voice on Capitol Hill

11/10/2005 11:09:00 AM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: National Desk

Contact: David E. Autry of Disabled American Veterans, 202-314-5219

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A proposal to end the long-standing practice of veterans groups addressing a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees is an insult to all who have fought, sacrificed and died to defend the Constitution, according to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). And in a strongly worded letter to House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), the DAV has urged him to continue the joint hearings as an invaluable tool in formulating public policy toward America's veterans.

Chairman Buyer recently announced that veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees.

"The tradition of legislative presentations by veterans service organizations dates back to at least the 1950s. And the timing of this announcement -- just before Veterans Day -- could not have been worse," said DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson.

For several decades now, these joint hearings have been held each year to allow the elected leaders of veterans groups to discuss their organization's legislative agenda and foremost concerns with the lawmakers who have jurisdiction over federal veterans programs. Senators and Representatives who serve on those committees also get the rare opportunity to address the hundreds of constituent members from these organizations' who make the annual pilgrimage to Capitol Hill.

"The right to fully participate in the democratic process is a cornerstone of our nation," said Commander Jackson. "Eliminating these joint hearings is an insult to the men and women who have fought, sacrificed and died to protect our Constitutional rights, including the right to petition the government."

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=56522

from Think Progress...

Remember that Buyer was handpicked by criminally-indicted Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) to replace former veterans committee chairman Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who had been extremely vocal about the consistent underfunding of veterans causes.

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/10/veterans-day-outrage/

[tk2kewl]

1. how low can you go?

:grr:

[slay]

2. Fight for your country, get wounded for your country, then GET LOST

Our government seems to be constantly sinking to new lows these days. :(

[0007]

39. Seems, is an understatement! Our government is sinking fast.

Visit a veteran hospital sometime.

[DemoTex]

3. DX the veterans like a pair of old combat boots. It's the Bu$hco way.

The military veteran is as dispensable as a shot-through canteen to this cabal of chicken-hawks. Another reason to send them packing. What they have done to US veterans is criminal.

[texpatriot2004]

4. CONTACT STEVE BUYER - TELL HIM WHAT YOU THINK

House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.)

http://stevebuyer.house.gov/press.htm

Washington, DC
2230 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
[phone]

Monticello, IN
100 S. Main Street
Monticello, IN 47960
[phone]

Plainfield, IN
148 N. Perry Road
Plainfield, IN 46168
[phone]

Bedford, IN
1801 "I" Street
Bedford, IN 47421
[phone]

[texpatriot2004]

6. Maybe someone can post the 800 (toll free) number for him nm

[nickyt]

12. I'm going to send this to the newspapers in IN - this is disgusting.

[texpatriot2004]

24. Good idea. So glad that you are. He should be shamed in public

for this...it's horrid.

[maddezmom]

5. this is disgusting

:(

[DURHAM D]

7. The House and Senate Dems on these committees should

have a hearing and ask all the Vet groups to participate. If lucky, they will get the same nasty basement storage closet they gave Conyers.

Note: They need to wait until Ed Schultz is on AFR and can get the word out to current military about the Repugs they support so strongly.

Go Dems.

[hang a left]

19. Great Idea...

Who are the democratic members of the commission and I will call them and ask THEM to do it.

[Joe Chi Minh]

8. The Dems will surely restore honour to the White House and

Capitol Hill, before too long. Mind you, with all that's going on at the moment... maybe they've got a point. Inundated with problems!

[madrchsod]

9. just when ya think they can`t get any lower -they do

[Megahurtz]

37. Just watch,

there's a brand new surprise from these people everyday!:puke:

[olddad56]

10. Maybe having a deserter in the White House is the reason Vets don't count.

[Loonman]

11. Republicans just don't care

Not like many of them served, anyway.

[aquart]

13. They can die but not speak.

And the sensitivity of the timing is just.......unspeakable.

[ismnotwasm]

14. You know--sometimes there just are no words

This is Complete and total henious bullshit.
For me-- Right now,a personal moment of silence out of respect for all our fallen men and women in the armed forces, for all the Veterans, for all who are still serving.
Our government might not care, nor honor, nor respect your service but I sure as hell do.
My daughter will be out of the army in one month. She's served her country for nearly 9 years, including deployments to Korea and Afghanistan. And now they're trying to still the voices of veterans.
Fuck. No words.

[w8liftinglady]

15. I wrote a letter to my paper,too

this really pisses me off.

[SharonRB]

16. This is disgusting -- it's how we honor our troops?

[area51]

17. Republinazis hate veterans. (n/t)

[Catamount]

18. Yeah--maybe because the top repugs

all avoided serving their country and they don't like to be reminded of their own failures.
(Of course there are exceptions)

[conscious]

20. GOP MEMO TOUTS NEW TERROR ATTACK AS WAY TO REVERSE PARTY'S DECLINE

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7639.shtml

[dmr]

21. It's about screwing the vets, once again. Read this:

Damn it! After learning how the vets get the bums rush from our government, I started to donate regularly to the DAV. This latest piece of disrespect only shows how hateful these GOPers really are. If you have the time, please go to the link and read the whole article.

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/TheExecutive/111005_veteran.html

Vets lash out at House over budget moves
By Elana Schor

- snip -

Buyer is replacing the joint hearings with a February series in which veterans groups would outline their budget priorities just as the White House finishes sending its budget request to Congress. In the past, that series of budget hearings has been held in March, after lobbyists for veterans groups have fully examined the president’s request.

- snip -

Brooke Alexander, spokeswoman for Buyer’s committee, said low attendance at the joint hearings prompted a reorganization of the schedule.

- snip -

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who declared victory in press releases after successfully attaching $1.5 billion in extra 2005 VA funding to the Senate’s interior appropriations bill, warned that veterans are on the verge of being deprived again.

“Veterans had a victory in July, but that victory is about to be snatched away because no one is watching,” Murray said. “The Senate allocation is the number that should be sent to President Bush for his signature. Every dollar below that Senate level is a dollar taken away from a veteran.”

Murray said yesterday that the VA had saved $1 billion of her 2005 emergency funding and carried it over to 2006. That money could be used during conference negotiations to justify lowering the healthcare budget. But lobbyists for veterans groups were puzzled by the shift.
“It seems odd to us that suddenly they would be able to carry over when it was clear that the whole $1.5 billion was needed for 2005,” Cullinan said.

[lyonn]

22. This bunch is so arrogant and unconscious

Here we are in a war where our troops are losing their lives and limbs and they don't allow veterans groups to speak to Congress.

For sure they want to keep the poor of this country producing more babies, otherwise known as fodder.

Edit: And they plan to lower the money budgeted for student loans, grants, etc. so the peons cannot compete with the Ivy Leaguers.

[nickyt]

23. Very confused now, just found this on the Veterans' Affairs website

(Nov. 8)

Chairman Buyer holds Veterans Summit
announcing new hearing schedule

Hearing reform gives veterans’ groups a greater voice

Washington, DC – House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), announced that he will hold full committee hearings starting in February during which veterans’ groups can present their priorities and offer guidance earlier in the budget process. Calling on veterans’ groups to play a more influential role in developing the annual Department of Veterans Affairs budget, Buyer presented his plan to engage them early in the annual budget process.

Chairman Buyer discussed veterans issues with leaders of national veterans’ service organizations and military associations at the Army War College, located at the Carlisle Barracks, Pa. Participants also included Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Health Subcommittee Chairman Henry Brown (R-S.C.).

“Moving these hearings forward will bring more accountability to the budget process and ensure that veterans have greater input in the process,” Buyer said.

After a discussion of the 2006 schedule, Chairman Buyer recommended moving the testimony earlier in the legislative process. The recommendation was received favorably by those in attendance. As a result, he has made the decision to move the veterans and military organizations testimony early in February.

“Now, veterans organizations are more relevant and material to the budget fight,” he told those in attendance.

In past years, VSOs have come to Capitol Hill to offer their views in joint hearings of both the House and Senate Veterans Committees. The impact of these hearings has been limited because they have occurred weeks after Congress developed its “views and estimates” response to the President’s budget request, which it does by March each year.

Under the new schedule, the VSOs will be asked to present their views on the budget and their legislative priorities in early February at the same time the President sends his budget to Capitol Hill. In addition, the VSOs will also be asked to testify in February at a series of full committee and subcommittee hearings on a variety of legislative proposals directly affecting veterans.

http://veterans.house.gov/news/109/11-8-05.html

[lyonn]

25. Sounds a bit self-serving to say the least

So, the Veterans don't know what they are talking about? You are right, this is confusing. or is that Buyer's purpose for his memo.

[0rganism]

26. Opportunity knocks for Democrats looking to gain congressional seats

If the Dems are all over this issue like white on rice, they stand to pick up a share of veterans' votes and maybe some active-duty military votes as well.

And intelligent, socially-conscious veterans like Paul Hackett can be great candidates in the so-called "uncontestable" districts.

[Joey Liberal]

27. REPUBLICANS HAVE BETRAYED ALL VETERANS

Sadly, many of my fellow vets voted republican. They should be ashamed.

[makeanoise]

28. Veterans Day Outrage: Conservatives End 55-Year-Old Practice of Hearings

My apologies, if this has already been posted, i looked and did not find....

Veterans Day Outrage: Conservatives End 55-Year-Old Practice of Hearings for Vet Groups

On Tuesday — three days before Veterans Day — House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-IN) announced that for the first time in at least 55 years, “veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees.”

Remember that Buyer was handpicked by criminally-indicted Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) to replace former veterans committee chairman Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who had been extremely vocal about the consistent underfunding of veterans causes.

The Disabled American Veterans, the “official voice of America’s service-connected disabled veterans,” just issued a scathing release calling the move “an insult to all who have fought, sacrificed and died to defend the Constitution.” The timing, they said, “could not have been worse.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/10/veterans-day-outrage/


Let's see those right wingers say, SUPPORT THE TROOPS now!

[meganmonkey]

29. Just so you know, LBN forum has strict rules

and the thread title has to be the exact headline of the article, so this will probably get locked or moved to GD...

Welcome to DU! :toast:

[lonestarnot]

30. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5325700&mesg_id=5325700

[makeanoise]

32. Sorry, should have known...

DU is always up on what's going on, my apologies!

[Ilsa]

31. Thanks for the link and thread. Welcome to DU!

[The Backlash Cometh]

33. Watching how some of the Right Wing's evil agenda continues

despite what's happening to the leaders of the Republican party, is a lot like watching a cockroach continue to live despite the fact that it's been dismembered.

[M155Y_A1CH]

34. Don't be discouraged from posting

All you have to do is search DU for the exact title of the article.
Just copy and paste the title in the DU search engine and select to search thread titles. If nothing comes up you can be sure you are the first with the news.

[Doremus]

35. What I don't understand is, with the midterms nearing,

why would they be so eager to piss off part of their base? I realize their desire not to give them a forum for blasting cuts in veteran benefits, etc., but there would be other ways to accomplish the same thing without spitting in their faces.

Are they just so arrogant that their vulnerabilities haven't really sunk in yet? Are they banking on vets voting with the party (those who are Repugs) in spite of getting kicked in the teeth?

[Kailassa]

36. This is a GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY for us.

We need to organize a huge Democrat rally, with small ones all over for people who can't get to the Washington one, protesting at this administration's treatment of soldiers and veterans.

This would be one way to get a heap of support from Republicans who are ready to swing our way. It would be vital though to organize this one ourselves, leaving all other issues out of it, and make it a clear single issue rally.

We must be able to organize these things ourselves, otherwise we don't count as a force to be contended with in America at all.

If the Democrat leaders would not support us in this and offer their help, I will be believing they are not Dems at all, but are Repub stand-ins, only there to prevent true opposition to the current bastardry.

[Uncle Joe]

38. Amazing!!

This from a party that claims to support the military, I am certain this will help with our recruiting shortfall.:sarcasm:

[Megahurtz]

40. Well there's a REAL HAPPY Veteran's Day for ya!

:sarcasm:

[leftchick]

41. evil MFers

totally evil... :grr: