The Week Just Passed:

• Investigation Continues into VA Health Care Facilities; Women Vets Healthcare Also Under Scrutiny
• Administration Finally Submits its Request for Defense Operations Overseas
• Supreme Court Invalidates Recess Appointments
• The President “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
• “Obama’s Disastrous Iraq Policy: An Autopsy”
• Final Salute: Len Soucy, Founder of the Raptor Trust
• Salute: Lt. Col. Ingrid Parker, Picatinny’s New Garrison Commander
• Salute: Donna Costello, Retiring Denville Municipal Clerk
• Salute: Larry Ripley, New Rotary Governor

 

Investigation Continues into VA Health Care Facilities; Women Vets Healthcare Also Under Scrutiny

The deeply disturbing news about the many problems the Veterans Affairs healthcare system faces in caring for our nation’s veterans has prompted a broad-based internal review.  I am closely monitoring these audits, with particular attention to the VA facilities that serve veterans in New Jersey.

I am pleased that my office has not received any reports in recent months from veterans or their families about excessive wait times or other issues at either Lyons VA or East Orange healthcare facilities.  Nevertheless, the VA must ensure that all eligible veterans – men and women – receive the care they deserve in a timely fashion. 

In addition to solving the problems that result in excessive wait times, the VA must also move quickly to address recent reports about inadequate care for our female veterans.    There is simply no excuse for the VA not having the staff and facilities needed to address the health care needs of all veterans!

This article, which ran in several area weekly papers, conveys my commitment to making certain our veterans are being treated right! 

Administration Finally Submits its Request for Defense Operations Overseas

Yesterday, the White House finally submitted its request to Congress for funding for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). 

As chair of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I have repeatedly asked the Administration to provide their request on a timely basis.  This $60 billion budget request for overseas operations is nearly five months late and cries out for oversight. 

In coming weeks, our Subcommittee will examine this proposal in detail to make sure it fully supports and protects our deployed warfighters.  And, given the gains of ISIL in Iraq and Syria, continuing uncertainty in Afghanistan, growing chaos in Libya and terrorism rearing its head across the globe, our committee will expect answers.

Supreme Court Invalidates Recess Appointments

In a rare 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against President Obama in invalidating three appointments he made to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The appointments were subject to Senate confirmation, but the President attempted to circumvent the process by claiming he was using his recess appointment power to fill the vacant seats on the NLRB.  The only problem was that the Senate was not in recess.

This is a stinging rebuke to the President’s attempt to go around the Constitution.  This decision is a good start in the effort to rein in President Obama’s repeated efforts to expand his power at the expense of the Congress and the Constitution.

The President “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

The Constitution specifically requires the President ensure that the laws of the United States are “faithfully executed.”  It does not give the President the option of enforcing only those laws with which he agrees.  Neither does it allow the President to unilaterally change existing law.

Over the past 5½ years, however, President Obama has failed on numerous occasions to carry out this basic duty, as this column by George Will enumerates.

To address this growing dereliction of presidential duty, the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, announced this week his intention to take the matter to court.  A copy of the Speaker’s memo to the House of Representatives outlining his plan for moving forward can be found here.

 “Obama’s Disastrous Iraq Policy: An Autopsy”

The Atlantichas an excellent, even-handed account, of President Obama’s Iraq policy.  The story provides an historical review of specific dates and milestones and shows the terrible consequences of his hands-off approach.  This piece is well worth a read, despite its length.

Final Salute: Len Soucy, Founder of the Raptor Trust

Len Soucy, the founder of the Raptor Trust, a wildlife rehabilitation and educational center located in Long Hill Township, died earlier this month. 

All of us who support the Raptor Trust remember Len as someone who “made a life of making lives better. Whether saving avian lives here at The Raptor Trust, educating others on the diversity and value of wild animals in our lives, or studying raptor populations so that we humans could learn more about them and live better with them, Len’s was truly a life well lived.”

I extend my deepest sympathy to Len’s wife, Diane, his son Christopher and daughter-in-law Jessica, his granddaughter Leah, and to all those who worked alongside him to make the Raptor Trust a widely respected organization, not only in New Jersey, but also around the nation.

Salute: Lt. Col. Ingrid Parker, Picatinny’s New Garrison Commander

Congratulations and welcome to New Jersey to Lt. Col. Ingrid Parker, Picatinny Arsenal’s newly named garrison commander.  With Lt. Col. Parker’s appointment, Picatinny has, for the first time in its history, an all-female command pairing.  Lt. Col. Parker will be serving with Sgt. Maj. Rosalba Dumont-Carrion, who has been Picatinny’s command sergeant major since September 2012.

Lt. Col. Parker was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Army in 1994.  Transferring to Picatinny from Fort Meade, Maryland, she brings a wealth of experience to her new post at the Army’s premier research and development facility.

Salute: Donna Costello, Retiring Denville Municipal Clerk

Congratulations and best wishes to Donna Costello, who is retiring after 34 years of service as Denville’s municipal clerk.  Municipal clerks are the unheralded glue that helps to hold local government together.  With a wide-range of duties that range from preparing the agenda for town council meetings to establishing polling places for elections, they often don’t get the recognition they deserve.

Donna, whose experience and expertise put her in the top ranks of municipal clerks in New Jersey, said that one the best memories of her long service is “being able to assist residents and solve problems and watch them walk away happy.”

I salute Donna Costello for her faithful service to the people of Denville and wish her the very best for a long and healthy retirement.

Salute: Larry Ripley, New Rotary Governor

Congratulations to Larry Ripley of Morris Plains for being named the governor of Rotary District 7470, which includes Essex, Morris, and Sussex counties, as well as Warren County and Bernardsville.  Larry assumes his new office on July 1.

Larry has lived in Morris Plains for more than 40 years and has volunteered for numerous civic and charitable organizations.  He joined the Morris Plains Rotary Club in 1985.  Rotary’s motto is “Service above self,” and Larry has certainly embraced that ethic in his own life.