Bush Talks About Veterans Funding in Texas While Threatening to Veto It in DC
November 8, 2007
Heading into the Veterans Day holiday weekend, President Bush is in Texas today to visit an Army medical center in San Antonio. While the President is offering more empty rhetoric about standing with America's veterans and military families, back home in Washington he is preparing to veto Democratic efforts to provide more than $3.8 billion for veterans' employment and re-training programs.
President Bush's veto threat comes as an Associated Press report that shows the Bush Administration is not doing enough to protect the legal rights of reservists and members of the National Guard who have lost their jobs as a result of extended tours in Iraq. According to a new survey of soldiers returning from the war, one in four reported losing their jobs while on military leave. Yet government investigators have been "too willing to accept the employer's explanation for a worker's dismissal." [AP, 11/8/07] The bill President Bush has threatened to veto also includes $23.6 million to help homeless veterans, including the "more than 400 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars" who have turned up homeless shelters across the country. [New York Times, 11/8/07]
In contrast to President Bush's empty rhetoric on supporting our troops, Democrats in Congress have kept their promise to the brave men and women who have served our country by passing the largest increase in veterans' spending in our country's history and fighting for billions of dollars in funding for employment and re-training programs to help our returning warriors find work. [CQ House Action Report, 11/6/07; HR 3043 Conference Report, 11/5/07; Democratic Policy Committee report, 11/5/07]
"President Bush has no business going to Texas to talk about supporting our veterans and military families when back home in Washington he is preparing to veto billions of dollars in job training and employment programs for our veterans," said Don Fowler, co-chair of the Democratic National Committee's Veterans and Military Families Council. "While President Bush, the Bush Republicans in Washington, and their friends on the campaign trail continue to turn a blind eye to the needs of the brave men and women who have served our country, Democrats are fighting to ensure they have the health care they deserve and the resources they need to protect their economic security."
Bush Threatens to Veto Billions in Veterans Spending
President Bush Threatened to Veto Labor-HHS-Education Funding Bill. [Associated Press, 11/8/07]Labor-HHS Conference Report Provides $228 Million for Veterans' Employment. The conference report provides $228 million for veterans employment programs. [HR 3043 Conference Report, 11/5/07]
Labor-HHS Conference Report Provides $3.6 Billion for Job Training Programs. The conference report provides $3.6 billion for job training, with $1.8 billion for FY 2008 and $1.8 billion for 2009. This amount is $589 million above the President's request. This includes $864 million for adult job. [CQ House Action Report, 11/6/07]
Labor-HHS Conference Report Provides $3.4 Billion in Unemployment-Insurance and Employment-Services Programs. "The measure includes $3.4 billion to operate state unemployment-insurance and employment-services programs -- $37 million more than the current level and $39 million (1%) more than the administration's request." [CQ House Action Report, 11/6/07]
- More Than 16,000 Returning Reservists Filed Job Protection Complaints Between 2004 and 2006. Thousands of reservists returning from active duty face job loss, demotion, loss of benefits or loss of seniority at their civilian jobs, a violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). According to the GAO, more than 16,000 reservists filed USERRA complaints between 2004 and 2006, though the GAO estimated that fewer than 30 percent of reservists who experience violations file a complaint. The GAO found that resolving complaints took on average nearly two years. Additionally, the burden of proof in such cases is on the employee not the employer, with investigators often failing to investigate further than an employer's initial answer. [GAO, 2/07; GAO, 10/05; Washington Post, Gershkoff Op-Ed, 8/4/07]
- Thousands of IraqWar Veterans Are Plagued with Invisible Scars of Mental Injuries. "Bocanegra is one of thousands of veterans who have returned from war with mental health problems. The latest available data, through October, shows that 36,893 veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - about 8.5 percent of the 433,398 returned troops - have been seen at Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and received a provisional diagnosis of a mental health condition. Some 15,927 of those received a provisional diagnosis of PTSD. Through Feb. 11, the Defense Dept. evacuated 1,760 troops from war zones for mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and acute stress. [Navy Times, 3/27/07]
- Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans at Higher Risk for Suicide Than General Population. "Preliminary Veterans Affairs Department research obtained by The Associated Press reveals for the first time that there were at least 283 suicides among veterans who left the military between the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001 and the end of 2005…Today's homefront suicide tally is running at least double the number of troop suicides in the war zones as thousands of men and women return with disabling injuries and mental health disorders that put them at higher risk." [Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, 11/1/07]
- Traumatic Brain Injury Is the Signature Wound Suffered by Troops Serving in Iraq. "A growing number of U.S. troops whose body armor helped them survive bomb and rocket attacks are suffering brain damage as a result of the blasts. It's a type of injury some military doctors say has become the signature wound of the Iraq war. Known as traumatic brain injury, or TBI, the wound is of the sort that many soldiers in previous wars never lived long enough to suffer. The explosions often cause brain damage similar to 'shaken-baby syndrome,' says Warren Lux, a neurologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington." [USA Today, 3/3/05]
Labor-HHS Conference Report Provides $23.6 Million for Homeless Veterans. The conference report provides $23.6 million for Homeless Veterans Reintegration Programs. [HR 3043 Conference Report, 11/5/07]
- 500 to 1000 Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars are Homeless. "But young warriors just back from the Mideast--estimated around 500 to 1,000--are beginning to struggle with homelessness too." [Newsweek, 3/21/07]
- Homeless Advocates Worry Number of Homeless Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Could Reach Tens of Thousands. "The number may seem low, but homeless advocates worry that these wars will eventually produce tens of thousands of homeless vets, as the Vietnam War did." [San Francisco Chronicle, 4/15/07]
