I've been having a lot of people who keep telling me that the GOP is the pro-veteran party. There is no pro-veteran party, we're treated as pawns by both, but right now the GOP is definitely the worse of the two, so I decided to show that using just the current House of Representatives. This is written by me, and is my view, but is based very heavily in fact.
I would like to start by saying that I am a veteran of the United States Army and the Wisconsin Army National guard. I am a disabled veteran, with a 100% Permanent and Total Service-connected disability rating. In layman's terms, this means that due to what happened to me while in uniform, I can no longer work, or really function all that well.
In the current House of Representatives, most representatives are on record voting on seven major bills that affect veterans. During that time, there were many bills passed in the House or voted on in the House without a roll-call vote, meaning his position on those can only be ascertained by his recollection and statements. In the future, I certainly will support a push to have all bills in both houses of Congress be voted on with roll-call votes. I know it takes more time, but I want my congressmen's votes on the record.
Of the seven bills that primarily focused on veterans issues, the majority of the GOP voted Yea three times, and Nay four. Let's cover them, Yea's first.
The first one is a pretty easy one to understand: Rep. Fitzgerald coted Yea on H.R. 5293, the "Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act." This bill proposed to extend certain authorities granted to the VA during the COVID pandemic. The vote was held on September 20th, 2021, and was effectively unanimous (423 Yea, 8 not voting)
The second one passed with a similar vote. This was H. R. 4233, the "Student Veterans Counseling Centers Eligibility Act." This bill requires the VA to furnish counseling services for veterans or current members of the armed forces using certain education benefits. It was very popular, with 420 Yea, 4 Nay, and 9 not voting. Nearly unanimous.
The third and final Yea that I can confirm is for H.R. 147, the "Bringing Registered Apprenticeships to Veterans Education Act," or the BRAVE Act. This is a good law, requiring the Department of Labor to coordinate with the VA to provide information to service members leaving the service and veterans regarding apprenticeship programs, which is a great way to learn a trade. It was also passed with effective unanimity, 427 Yeas and 6 not voting.
Notice the trend in these three bills: they were all nearly unanimous. The only effect his nay vote could have had would be to paint a target on any representative's back. It took no courage or conviction to vote Yea, it was effectively a matter of course.
Now onto the Nays, which are the real problem.
Let's start with the one that his voters are most likely to blindly agree with him on, regardless of the facts: H.R. 239, the "Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act." According to the official summary, "This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from requiring payment from a veteran for any contraceptive item that is required to be covered by health insurance plans without a cost-sharing requirement." It's a pretty short bill, less than a full page when you read the bare text, and the summary is painfully accurate.
Why would GOP voters blindly agree to that vote? Because government payment of contraception as a whole has been vilified by the GOP, by and large, as funding abortions. That's not the actual case, but since when have politicians allowed facts to interfere with their narrative?
Next up is H.R. 1836, the "Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act." This was a response to the massive amount of time states have been requiring of their National Guard members to assist in handling the pandemic. It expands the types of hours you can serve that count toward your GI Bill benefits to include training, active military service, inactive training, and general duty for which basic pay is warranted. This would effectively open up National Guard members who are mobilized by their governor but not working for the federal government to get GI Bill benefits for that service.
Many GOP Reps' no votes here starts to show the pattern you'll find with his treatment of veterans: the only explanation I can find for why 135 GOP Representatives would vote against this bill is "fiscal responsibility," meaning money. This wouldn't just help "blue state" National Guards. Right now there are National Guard members being generally mistreated in Texas after being mobilized by their governor, who are not qualifying for GI Bill benefits for that service yet because the bill has not yet been passed into law. This would help them too. That doesn't matter to those that voted against it, the fraction of a percent in potentially increased budget does.
These last two are particularly galling, and you'll see why as I explain.
The most recent Nay vote from the majority of the GOP against helping veterans came in regards to H.R. 3967, the "Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins Act of 2021," or the "Honoring our PACT Act." This one is fairly complicated, but the gist of it is effectively requiring the VA to consider veterans who participated in toxic exposure risk activity, possibly including proximity to burn pits, to be eligible for VA healthcare benefits. It's complicated because it has to amend a lot of sections of laws regarding the VA, and specifically calls for a lot of research regarding the effects of toxic exposure, which also requires funding.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would likely result in an increase in direct direct spending of about $72.3 billion between 2022-2026, or a grand total of about $207.5 billion over the course of 10 years. That averages out to less than one third of one percent of the 2021 budget each year. Those GOP Reps that spoke on the house floor about this bill made it clear that they considered "fiscal responsibility," again that means money, more important than this.
Finally, there's H.R. 4673, which you've seen me mention before. The "Ensuring Veterans' Smooth Transition Act," or "EVEST Act." It's a short bill, fairly simple. All it does is require the VA to automatically enroll veterans who are *already* eligible for VA healthcare benefits into the VA Healthcare system, and provide a means by which to opt-out. To simplify: it changes VA benefits into an opt-out system rather than opt-in.
Why is this so important? Because it takes veterans months, sometimes years, to get access to VA Benefits they are eligible for under the current opt-in system, because it's not a simple opt-in. I've rarely come across a veteran that was able to apply for benefits themselves and actually get benefits. Most veterans I know, including myself and my father, have to go through what's called a Veterans Service Organization, or VSO. VSOs basically function as lawyers and legal clerks for veterans applying for benefits.
Let that sink in for a moment. In order to get healthcare benefits we were promised should something go wrong, as it so often does, we have to get legal help. We have to fight, sometimes in court, to get the benefits we deserve. That's part of why VA claims are so backed up, because they have to go through a convoluted system that's meant to restrict access to VA healthcare benefits to as few veterans as possible.
According to the CBO, over the course of five years, that bill would cost the federal government about $3.1 billion. That's about $620 million per year, which would increase the federal budget by about one one-hundredth of a percent. To put that in an annoying perspective, in 2016 the Government Accountability Office published a report showing that non-military government agencies spent $652 million, about $32 million more than what the EVEST Act would cost us in a year, on using their own aircraft in fiscal year 2015. We're paying more money to allow federal employees to avoid commercial flights and/or avoid using commercial logistical transport than we would need to cut red tape for tens of thousands of future veterans.
The majority of GOP Representatives do not effectively support veterans. Instead, he values money over proper care of veterans. I am so tired of them using my service, sacrifice, and suffering, and that of my fellow veterans, for political talking points and then when the rubber hits the road, they can't be bothered to even vote in our favor. Both parties use us, but right now, only one party has a majority of their members in Congress actively supporting bills that help us.
I refuse to tell you how to vote, but I think actual voting records should matter, and when it comes down to it, when their choice might actually make a difference, GOP Reps can't put our money where their mouths are.
Bills Mentioned
H.R. 5293 - Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5293
H.R. 4233 - Student Veterans Counseling Centers Eligibility Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4233
H.R. 147 - Bringing Registered Apprenticeships to Veterans Education Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/147
H.R. 239 - Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/239
H.R. 1836 - Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1836
H.R. 3967 - Honoring our PACT Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3967
H.R. 4673 - Ensuring Veterans' Smooth Transition Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4673
