Veterans

Thousands of Veterans call the 11th District home.

The 11th Congressional District is home to more veterans than just about any other congressional district in the country.  Having joined the Illinois Air National Guard right out of high-school, and with my own three sons currently serving in uniform, I can honestly tell you this is an issue that is never far from my mind.

Veterans have risked everything for this country, and we owe it to the brave men and women in uniform to make sure they get the benefits they’ve earned.  Whether it means improving wait times at V.A. facilities, or making sure the kids coming back from overseas get access to the care and education that they need, I will fight to ensure that we make good on our promise to America’s veterans and their families.  You have my word on that.

Military Pension Cuts

One such example was with the recent (attempted) cuts to military pensions.  As a father of three sons currently serving in the military and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, keeping faith with our troops is personally important to me.    

At the end of 2013, Congress passed a budget resolution compromise that was struck between Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and his Senate counterpart, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA).  Although the budget deal passed the House and Senate with large bipartisan support, in my view, the deal was extremely flawed and so I voted against it.  One of the major “cost offset” provisions in the bill would limit the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for military retirees to inflation minus one percent. 

At first, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but confirmed this fact through my questioning of Chairman Ryan during a Rules Committee hearing on the resolution.  Of all the places where we can reduce wasteful government spending, I was extremely disappointed that this is where Congress settled.  As I mentioned, I voted against this budget resolution largely because it included this cap on COLA for military retirees under the age of 62. 

In January, Congress took up the accompanying appropriations bill, which funds the actual line item categories that were laid out in that budget agreement. The appropriations bill (H.R. 3547) restored COLA for medical retirees.  And while I was encouraged that my colleagues recognize the moral failure of capping COLA of service members forced into early retirement by unrecoverable combat injuries, I still believed it was unacceptable to cut retirement adjustments for any miltiary retiree.  Therefore, I voted against the appropriations bill that woud have capped COLAs for military retirees.          

In the end, all military retiree pension cuts were cancelled, but Congress did so by transferring the cuts to Medicare.  I again disagreed with that and have introduced legislation that would pay for restoration of military pensions by imposing a modest cut to foreign aid.  This is a no-brainer, in my opinion and I’m hopeful that my colleagues will agree.   In any case, that’s where I stand.