January 14, 2005
Letter to Representative James P. Moran and J. Dennis Hastert Speaker of the House
Dear Mr. Speaker and Representative Moran:
Over the last two years, we have heard a lot of talk about supporting the troops. I am writing you today out of concern that we talk about it too much, but don’t really do it.
According to media reports, in January 2005, the leadership of the 109th Congress removed Representative Chris Smith from his chairmanship of the Veterans Affairs Committee, replacing him with Indiana Representative Steve Buyer, a 1991 Gulf War veteran and Army Reserve Colonel, because Representative Smith has been too pro-veteran in his policies.
According to a January 11 column by Bob Novak, “The leadership’s problem with Smith has been his insatiable desire to make life better for veterans during 24 years on the Veterans Affairs committee (six years as vice chairman, four years as chairman). That fits the job description set by conservative Democrat Sonny Montgomery of Mississippi during his 12-year chairmanship.”
Congress is rightly concerned about the huge deficits our government is incurring, with the combination of a war and tax-cuts rapidly bankrupting our country. But the 2005 budget, passed by you and signed by the President, managed to find billions of dollars to pay for pork-barrel projects in members’ districts, including:
* $7 million for a bus-maintenance facility in Tempe, Arizona
* $430,000 to restore the Fox Tucson Theatre
* $3 million for a grape research laboratory
* $1.5 million for a demonstration project to transport naturally chilled water from Lake Ontario to Lake Onondaga
* $75,000 for the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame in Appleton, Wis.
* $200,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
* $3 million for the First Tee Program in St. Augustine, Florida
* $1 million dollars (ironically) for the Missouri Pork Producers Association
How did you pay for all of this? According to a recent report, the omnibus appropriations bill cut the Pentagon account used to pay for up-armored humvees. A Scripps-Howard study of combat deaths in Iraq shows that 1 in 5 of the over 1,300 U.S. deaths in Iraq took place inside humvees.
As you know, American servicemembers are fighting and dying in Iraq every day. Thousands of them are coming home injured only to have to wait months to see a VA doctor, because the Department of Veterans Affairs has been overwhelmed. Yet, these press reports indicate that Congress is considering slashing the VA budget at a time when our veterans are coming home from a war.
Our top priority as a nation should be to ensure that those who serve our country receive the best possible care.
Sgt James Landrith (USMC, USMCR and Gulf War veteran)
PO Box 8208
Alexandria, VA 22306
https://www.jameslandrith.com/