September 2, 2010

Buyer Provides Candid and Inspirational Remarks at 92nd National Convention of the American Legion

For more information, contact: Brian Lawrence (202) 225-3527

Milwaukee, WI - Yesterday, Steve Buyer (R-IN), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, addressed the delegates of the 92nd National Convention of the American Legion.

 

Buyer provided candid and inspirational remarks on his service in the Army Reserve, his service in Congress as an advocate for our men and women in military uniform, members of the Guard and Reserve, and veterans, and on his beliefs and vision for the nation.

 

Buyer complimented National Commander Hill for his leadership and expressed appreciation for the 18 years that he has worked with the American Legion for the betterment of the military, veterans, and their families.

 

Buyer also made candid remarks about the dangers that American servicemembers still face in Iraq:

 

When servicemembers are in harms way, we have to be vigilant and we have to be careful. I am going to ask you (Legionnaires) to be a watch guard, because even though you, Mr. President, have taken combat brigades out of theater, you have left 50,000 troops behind serving in combat support and combat service support missions.  They are combatants – those guys that said, “I am not infantry” – they are infantry.   And as long as those men and women are in place, Mr. President, they are in harm’s way.”

 

Below is the complete text of Ranking Member Buyer’s remarks:

 

Thank you very much.  I am pleased that Speaker Pelosi could be here with us today, so thank her very much for her remarks.

 

I’d like to thank National Commander Clarence Hill for the opportunity to be here with you this morning and for the kind introduction and more importantly for his leadership.  Commander Hill, you have done a fine job over the past year not only leading the American Legion, but also, I’d like to thank you for a career that has spanned the globe on the high seas.  You have a life that has been well-lived.

 

I’d also like to express my appreciation for Retha Navarotti, the National President of the American Legion Auxiliary, as well as all the past Presidents of the American Legion Auxiliary who are with us here today.  I want to compliment you on your 90th anniversary of service, not self - for veterans, God, and country.

 

I’d also like to acknowledge the Hoosiers who are in the room today and in particular a special guest of mine.  He’s a former childhood friend of mine that I grew up with, he and his brother, Jim and Shane Mayhew, on the Tippecanoe River.  Both of them went on to follow their father’s footsteps.  He is a veteran of World War II and of Normandy.  They served careers in the United States Navy and Jim is the past state Commander of North Carolina and he is here with me on the podium today and I am very pleased about that.

 

It gives me great pleasure to be here to address you today and what I had planned to do was to behave and to follow one third of my prepared remarks.  I am a retiring Member and I plan to be very candid not only about Congress, but about some legislation, my counsel to the nation and then I’ll step aside.

 

I truly am pleased to call you not only my comrades, but also fellow Legionnaires.  I am aware of your pride.  I live your pride.  Not only in service to country, but also the legacy of service for which you acknowledge.

 

I am a proud Life Member of Post 81 in Monticello, Indiana.  My lifelong involvement with the American Legion starts as early as I can remember, cleaning dishes and washing tables, drying pots and pans after the ladies washed them.  You see, I know about the tough duties of the Legion Auxiliary - they make you all look good.

 

I was that snot-nosed little brat that would wander into the alleyway where all the smoke came from you guys frying burgers and tenderloins, and were drinking things out of cans that I had no permission to touch.  And you would always shoo me back inside with all the ladies so I could continue to dry and clean tables.  So I remember all that, and some of you here remember that.

 

My grandfather was a veteran of World War One, whose name is inscribed on the wall at the World War One Memorial at the mall in Indianapolis next to the Legion Headquarters.  He then went on to be the Commander of his Legion Post and then inspired his son to go to Culver, the military school at Culver in Indiana, for four years and then he went to the Citadel for four years.  My father chose not to stay on active duty in the military after eight years, he wanted to be a dentist, to follow his father’s footsteps.  And what happened in the summer of 1950?  He was drafted as a recruit into Korea.  You see, my father then went and served the nation, even though he had eight years of experience in the enlisted ranks.  My brother and I are the proud sons of an Army Sergeant.  Never ever did I hear my Father say, “I could have been an officer.”  He did what many do in this nation of ours.  You answer your call to service.  You serve, you do your duty, and you go home, and raise your family, and you live your life.  And that is, in fact, what he did as a dentist in Francisville, Indiana.

 

He served as a dentist actually until the age of eighty.  And then he closed his door.  His goal was to work until he was eighty, and from the john boat, the two of us floating down the Tippecanoe River, I said, “Dad, congratulations, you accomplished your goal.”  And he said, “What the hell did I do that for?”

 

My brother John and I had a rare privilege growing up.  We followed our father to the Citadel.  My brother is a graduate of the Citadel in 1979 and myself in 1980.  He went on to the Army Dental Corps as a dentist.  I was in the Medical Service Corps officer and, after law school, branch transferred to the JAG Corps.  I’ve been on and off active duty several times in war and in peace.

 

But my status as a veteran I think, has been extremely helpful to me in my committee assignments serving you and the nation in Congress.  What is really unfortunate is that there are not many veterans that serve in Congress today.  You know, actually, there are probably less than twenty of us that have served in a theater of war and it’s really pretty stunning.

 

Not long ago, I was able to say to my friend, John Dingell, the longest serving Member of the House, that I do envy him in that if God had given me the ability to choose my years of service to the nation in Congress, I would have chosen 1948 to 1964, because the individuals who served in Congress at that time, were individuals who served the nation in World War II and Korea.  They understood the American character.  They understood the character that was formed and forged in a crucible of difficult times.  Not only that coming from the American Revolution, but those which have been passed through time.  And then to go to a foreign land, to go places where they had never been, and fight for people they had never met.  And to leave freedom in their footsteps and to also leave loved ones behind.

 

They understood something very powerful, something more powerful than party labels, Madam Speaker.  Something more powerful than being a Republican or more powerful than being a Democrat.  How about those in Congress being an American for once!

 

For thirty years, I have had the honor to wear the Army uniform.  And for the past eighteen years, I have also served the people of Indiana and this nation in the United States Congress.  On September 16th, my brother and I will stand in uniform in the Veterans’ Affairs Committee room in a ceremony hosted by the Secretary of the Army, and I will retire.  This will complete my federal service to the nation in Army uniform and the United States Congress.  I am grateful and humbled for the opportunity and I thank all of you who have supported my career.  Because it has truly been remarkable to serve the men and women who wear the uniform.

 

I also want to extend my great appreciation to the national commanders throughout the last 18 years and also to my mentors, Sonny Montgomery, Bob Stump, and Lane Evans.  You’ve passed unto me in my tenure of leadership some really great qualities and attributes.

 

When I think about our concerted efforts, they have truly been remarkable.  When I think about what the VA looked like when I came in 1992, it was depicted in a movie called “Born on the Fourth of July.”  It was not a very good story to tell.  But the VA has transformed itself in the last 18 years and it has taken a lot of hard work and maintenance and mentorship.  Not only by the American Legion, but also other veterans service organizations and military organizations.

 

The VA has transformed itself from a healthcare provider of last resort to a world class healthcare system that we are all proud of.  We provide constant maintenance as we  transform from a hospital-based model to a current community-based outpatient clinic system that serves our veterans so much more conveniently and efficiently.

 

For 92 years, Legionnaires have stood proudly for God and Country.  Your mission is among the highest calling of any organization, I believe, outside of religious affiliation.  This includes mentoring and sponsorship of youth programs in our communities.  The impact that you have on young men and women today is very powerful.  They watch what you do.  They told you, as a young soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine, or Coast Guardsman, to lead by example.  When you took off your uniform and returned to your civilian status, you continued to set the example and you are pace setters in your communities.  These programs are extremely important, especially at a time when there are pillars in our society that are weakening at their base.

 

So when the military, our religious organizations, some private schools, when you think about it, what outfit is out there that provides pillars of stability for America’s soul?  You play a very important role with your advocacy for patriotism and helping tell your story so that people understand the honor in service and selfless sacrifice.

 

Promoting a strong sense and well-being of our nation’s security. As I listen to the Speakers’ remarks, she is absolutely correct when she said, “You must first have economic security before you can have national security.” That is part of the problem and why communism failed. Madam Speaker, you must have also though a complete understanding of what it means for the men and women who wear the uniform. Please don’t just say, “Oh, I’ll take care of you when you come home. “You cannot have a voting record whereby you do not support the men and women in the military. You see, let me give you an analogy. You can’t say to your children, “Oh, I don’t like your behavior. I don’t like what you’re doing. So, I’ll tell you what. That car – I’m not going to buy that car. I’m not going to teach you how to drive it. I’m not going to provide maintenance for that car. I’m not even going to change the tires on that car. But if you get hurt, I will are everything in my Treasury to care for you in the hospital and make sure that you are taken care of for the rest of your life.” No, when someone enters the military, you make sure that they are properly trained, they are properly equipped so you don’t have to be take care of them for the rest of their life.

 

Now, another piece candor for the moment. A lot of individuals who were war protestors during the Vietnam era have a disdain for the military. I’ve got to serve with them in Congress.  Now they’re in leadership positions in Congress. Let me tell you how they cope with themselves. This is a coping skill. Maybe you’ve heard it before. Oh, it’s ok – you know - how we may feel about the war but we all love the soldiers, the sailors, the airmen, the marines when they come home. We all want to care for the veterans. Don’t let them get away with it.

 

One thing I do want to touch on is when I talked about your pride, your leadership and what you do for us, is what you did for me to help the country. The Legion and what you instill, your ideals and how you touch those who actually still serve in the uniform when they come home on their breaks and you get to see them. You welcome them home, you check in with the families. All of that is about the American family. We know that. But, I just want you to know that when you did that for me, I in turn, when I came into positions of power, I could then help the country.

 

Prime example, I come right out of the first Gulf War. A lot of my comrades come home very sick, including myself. So what do I do? I champion the causes of Gulf War Illnesses with Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts. I then as the chairman of military personnel subcommittee recognized something, that our government said, “If you take an oath to defend this country in uniform and serve a career, we will take care of your for healthcare for life.” Then when we go through the first round of the base closings in the early 1990’s it was the shock of many in the military that we were closing them and that we said,  “Well, you will have to go get your healthcare somewhere else or they can get it from Medicare.” And people became to be outraged. Well, that may be what it said “in the law” but what did you say when you signed the dotted line? Now at the time Congress was saying, “Well, we’ll respond to the pressure from the Legion and everybody else. We’ll provide, I’ll tell you what, we’ll take from the military retiree, we’ll trigger you into FEHBP, which is the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan.” You know what? I said no. Over 380 Members of Congress said we’ll trigger the military retiree into FEHBP at age 65. I called a meeting in my office. In that meeting, sitting at this little round table was John Chapla of VMI, Vietnam veteran, Army Colonel, retired. You got Mike Higgins, Air Force colonel, retired. Ed Wyatt, Navy corpsman, Vietnam. Jim Lariviere – Citadel graduate, at the time a lieutenant colonel in the Marines. He’s now a brigadier general in the Reserve. And, myself. I look at them at the table and I said; “You know, there are moments in time where you recognize that there is a problem and someone has to fix it. Gentleman, it’s us. We’re going to do it; we’re going to do it right now.”

 

Some of my colleagues in Congress were advocating that we trigger the military retiree into the program at a magical date. Think about all the different healthcare circumstances that people may go through just because some magical date, I am going to disturb all of that? No. I believe that if they’re serving their country and they and their families are receiving Tricare, I believe that we should create a program and leave them in Tricare for life. John Chapala picked up a pen and he wrote at the top of the pad “Tricare for Life” and he underlined it. That was the creation of a program to fulfill America’s promise. I then coupled it with a revitalizing of the pharmacy program that is extraordinary. It is the richest pharmacy benefit of any program in America. And I know that a lot of people want access to it. But, let me tell you how you get access to it. Serve the nation in uniform for twenty years or more and you can have access to it. Keep your hands off of it, anyone else.

 

I then set off to do a lot of things championed with the American Legion. Let me hit a quick laundry list and then I’ll move on. Because these are things I really have enjoyed. Not only taking on the homeless veterans issue but in particular in the 1990’s, what happened? The Clinton Administration went into the inner cities and recruited a lot of women with children and brought them into the military. I then had to respond because we had people in the military that were on food stamps. And so then these individuals as we go into the next decade, many of them get out of the military and what’s the new problem we have? We have women veterans who are homeless with children. So I then created a program to respond to that. We established also a VA Office of Rural Health Care to improve access and quality of care for our veterans living in rural areas.

 

I also then said “I am going to improve contracting” and I established a 3% annual government-wide goal of Federal contracting and subcontracting for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. They need to be able to participate in the Federal contracting process. And after helping reorganize the United States Olympic Committee, I took those relationships and said,“I want to use sports as a platform for healing.” I then brought the Olympic Committee and the VA together and we created sports programs and actually also created an avenue for our warrior-athletes to be able to compete in the Olympic Games. And that has become a reality.

 

But you know there is something else that we always have to do. And I am going to ask this of you when I leave. When I leave Congress, please be vigilant when it comes to our cemeteries. I know many of you – performed your duties in the burial of our comrades. I have, over the years, I have watched the largest expansion of our cemetery system since the Civil War. I have been an advocate of the VA’s National Shrine Program. I believe that a nation defines itself how we care for individuals who came before us. I took on recently the Department of Interior for not taking care of our battlefield cemeteries and veteran cemeteries. We should have one standard and that standard is set by the Battle Monuments Commission when it comes to our cemeteries. One standard! So please help me, when I leave Congress, to do that.

 

And, you know, sometimes you just have to say enough is enough. That happened twice. In the military we call it ‘on the spot corrections,’ right? Well, I recall this one day I picked up the phone and, I do this, I talked to a mother whose son had just been killed in Iraq. On the other end of that phone, she was crying.  And she said, “I almost didn’t answer the phone,” and I said, “ok, what’s wrong? What can I do to help you?” And she said, “I didn’t answer the phone because I was afraid he was calling back.” And I said, “What is it, maam?” She said, “Someone on the other end of the line just called me and said ‘I’m glad your son is dead.’” I was shocked. The person was calling to tell them they are glad their son had died in Iraq. She also told me that her house had been egged and that someone put trash all over their yard. And that someone also was trying to take the American flag down but the dog ran them off. At that time America was recognizing that people were protesting at military funerals. I said, “Enough was enough,” and got together with Mike Rodgers of Michigan and we passed a law criminalizing the protesting of military funerals.

 

Let me thank the Legion Riders. Let me also thank the Patriot Riders and Rolling Thunder for what you do at these funerals.

 

My second on-the-spot correction? I turned to the Federal courts, “Have you lost your mind? You just made unconstitutional the Stolen Valor Act? You think it’s ok for someone to go ahead and put on medals of valor. The Purple Heart, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star. Wear them around as though they are a warrior hero and you think that’s free speech?” These are the same Federal courts that think, “Ok, it’s ok to burn the flag and act like a hero.” What do they do – serve in Congress?

 

Let me tell you another on-spot correction. I was over in Minneapolis - you guys do this all the time. You go the VA, you see something, boom – you want to make a correction. I get to do that, too. So, I am in Minneapolis. We create the Polytrauma Centers. We’ve got five of them, they are extraordinary.  Please be the advocate to keep them. And what do I see? Our great, talented physicians have one of our warriors and his skull has been removed. The pieces of the skull are stored in the body cavity. The trauma to the brain was that severe. And I had to stop and think about what were we doing?

 

You see, America made such demands to protect our warriors, so what did we do?  We put them in unarmored humvees and we put so much body armor on them. What were we doing? We’ve got problems with the helmet.  The sling system in the helmet you had to wear and bitched and complained about. I said something is wrong here with our helmets. I am from Indiana and we watch the Indianapolis 500 where we watch a car hit the wall with over 100 G’s and the car explodes and the driver walks away.  Now, what do they have in their helmets that we don’t have in ours? So I got the Marine Corps to do some research and we were able to change from the sling system in the helmet to a padded system in the helmet to reduce the impact on a solider when an IED goes off so we can save lives. Those are the things that we can do.

 

When Sonny Montgomery left Congress I turned to Paul McHale a colleague of mine from the first Gulf War and a Democrat from Pennsylvania and we created the Guard and Reserve Caucus. Oh, Sonny Montgomery, I do love this man.  He used to carry the water for the National Guard and whatever spilled out went to the Reserve. That was Sonny Montgomery.   I will let you know that before he died I made a pledge to Sonny Montgomery.  I told him, “Sonny I will do everything I can in my lifetime to ensure that a statue is never erected in your honor and placed outside; cause the pigeons just won’t do you justice.  Sonny was a great man, he really was.  Great in humor, great in his love for veterans, great in his love for his country, great in love for his military, and he taught me so much. And we did everything imaginable to prepare the Guard and Reserve but never did we ever anticipate in the restructuring of the Guard and Reserve, while getting them through the desert training in California we never anticipated that they would be activated and utilized as much as they are—we never ever anticipated that.  And I am so proud of the men and women who are the butcher, the baker, the teacher, and the shop foreman who give up their lives and are going back for their third and fourth rotations and they keep going back to serve this great nation of ours.  They are extraordinary, Ladies and Gentlemen.

 

But please keep your eye on the ball, keep your eye on the ball; because right now the President is saying “change in mission – they are no longer combatants.”  Really? How do think that Spec Four just felt as he stands out there all geared up, ready to go out on a patrol and the President just said its not a combat mission? Let me tell you what has happened, because we have taken combat brigades out of theater and we have left 50,000 troops behind serving in combat support and combat service support – they are combatants – those guys that said, “I am not infantry” – they are infantry.  Some of my colleagues that I work with – and I know in their heart that is just so hard for them, really hard for them.  They would much prefer that those in the military be peace keepers than be warriors. 

 

When you are in harms way we have to be vigilant and we have to be careful and I am going to ask you to be a watch guard here because even though you remove the combat brigades that had lagged behind in training, the combat support and combat service support personnel, and it takes a long time to train that up.  And as long as those men and women are in place Mr. President, they are in harm’s way.

 

I want to conclude my remarks. And I do thank you for your patience in letting me share a few things with you.  I sat in my room last night and I made some notes and I just wanted to speak candidly and to the heart.  This will probably be the last time that I make public remarks, so let me share this with you. I truly have been a fighter over the years and at times I have even fought with you.

 

One thing I have recognized is that we have always believed in the same thing and that is pride of our country, pride of our ideals, pride of the men and women who wear the uniform, taking care of them and their families when they return, and if they do not return alive, to ensure that they receive an honorable burial and that we take care of their widows and orphans. In that we have never wavered. I have pride in myself that I fight for the people of Indiana and for this great country. I believe that in order to be an effective leader you must fight for what you believe in. So, I am not only a fighter but I am also a believer so let me share with you what I believe. I share it with you as I share it with a listening country.

 

I believe that in each of us is indomitable spirit.  Born free and armed with an insatiable desire and an undaunted courage to push the boundaries to discover new frontiers. We do so with the hope that there is a better future over the horizon.  It is the American character.

 

I believe that America is the land of opportunity.  A place where it is OK to dream big.

I believe that there is a nostalgic vision for our nation.  Decent and determined Americans guarded by their faith, virtues, and values, have opinions and beliefs that could improve life.

 

The bottom line: Americans have a choice in the individuals that lead their government.

Plato once said, “Those who do not take an interest with affairs of their government are doomed to live under the rule of fools.”

 

I also believe that the liberty of free thinking and innovative change enlivens us.

I believe that America adapts to and prospers from change more than any other country.

I believe that among us is a vibrant sense of nationhood that mocks the profits of evil, ruin, and doom. We are an inspirational nation who will preserve with integrity, fight for what we believe in, and resist the easy path.

 

Every day, as a cadet at the Citadel as I would pass through the PT Barracks and there was a wall with a quote by Robert E. Lee, “Duty is the sublimest word of the English language.”   I truly believe that.

 

So I conclude with this: I also believe that when you answered your nation’s call to duty in uniform, that it was in fact the highest form of patriotism. And as the defenders of freedom we must remain vigilant, but we must also be grateful - grateful for our liberty and for our physical, spiritual, and cultural inheritance because we do not own it outright but are merely trustees for life. It is our moral duty and obligation to preserve and protect this inheritance and to pass it along, improved if possible.  To do otherwise would be selfish. Therefore it is our endless sacrifice to consecrate our lives to the great good beset by our reoccurring hopes for a more peaceful and prosperous union.

 

How do you want the United States of America to be viewed in world history?  A world superpower, at a little over 200 years young but like a meteor that shined brightly for a moment, but moved quickly as it faded across the span of time?

 

 Or, do you want what I believe?  And permit the eyes of your mind to see a greater vision,  to see America as a nation who had the moral courage to reach deep and revitalize itself, a nation who sought the greater understanding to preserve liberty, release the power of the human spirit, and embrace God’s blessing for wise tolerance, good will, and an enduring peace.

 

For I believe that those who are vigilant, you, are the vital link between the vision and reality. I am eternally grateful to have served you and to have served this nation. I ask God’s blessing upon you as you travel home from this convention and I seek His guidance and blessings upon these our United States. Godspeed.

 

To view Ranking Member Buyer’s entire remarks to the American Legion Convention please click HERE.

 

For more news from House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Republicans, please go to:

 

http://republicans.veterans.house.gov/

 

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