[Peace-discuss] Response to attack on an anti-war vote in Congress

Sun Nov 27 11:45:37 CST 2011

The News-Gazette
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Guest Commentary

Long record of support for advancing veterans' causes
By U.S. Rep. Timothy Johnson

A local organization has recently initiated a politically motivated  
campaign of disinformation about my record on veterans' affairs.

At protests outside our offices, conducted after office hours when no  
representatives were on hand to respond, and in recent letters to the  
editor, my record has been distorted.

The votes I am condemned for were votes against unwise war spending  
bills that unfortunately and inappropriately, I believe, bundled  
together spending for veterans' benefits.

For example, the critics point to my vote "against GI Bill benefits  
for children of fallen troops" (HR 2346). In truth, this bill was in  
the previous Congress, the 111th Congress, and was the Supplemental  
Appropriations Act of 2009. It barely passed 226-202. This bill  
included the "Cash for Clunkers" provision, an incredibly wasteful  
program totally unrelated to veterans.

I have also been taken to task for not providing "mortgage relief for  
deployed troops, their families and gold star mothers," or HR 836.  
This legislation passed 242-177, with my support, to put an end to the  
Housing and Urban Development's disgracefully mismanaged Emergency  
Mortgage Relief Program. The bill as passed further directed the HUD  
Secretary to examine the impact of this program on veterans, their  
widows and families. The criticism is not a misstatement; it is simply  
false.

Critics also found fault with my opposition to HR 2647. This was not a  
vote against mental health screening for troops returning home as my  
critics claim. This was the National Defense Authorization Act for  
2010. Mental health screening was a tiny part of the legislation. I  
voted against the bill because, t included non-defense related  
measures, inflated defense spending, and an expansion of the  
definition of hate crimes unrelated to veterans.

My record of support for veterans is long and proud and could fill a  
book. It includes sponsorship and support for measures improving  
outreach, pay scales, chiropractic care, extended health benefits,  
extended GI benefits even for widows and family members, employment,  
housing and even cemetery maintenance.

For the last several months, I have been working with the Veterans'  
Administration toward the construction of 65 housing units at the  
Danville VA. These are intended for senior veterans, disabled veterans  
and local veterans who are homeless or transitioning back into the  
workforce. On Nov. 16, the VA finally announced the launch of a 45-day  
comment period on this initiative, after which agreements with  
developers can go forward.

Also this month, one of my bills, H.R. 674, passed the House and  
directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to work with the Secretary  
of Labor to establish a program of retraining assistance for veterans.

Earlier this year, I supported and helped pass H.R. 1484, which  
streamlines veterans' appeals process for medical claims, and H.R.  
802, to recognize businesses that hire veterans.

My office employs two people who specialize in assisting active  
military and veterans with the breadth of their problems, from simply  
gaining access to correct treatment at the VA Illiana Health Care  
System in Danville, to correcting disability payments to ascertaining  
military records. Our office has assisted hundreds of veterans with  
problems such as these. We have supported innovative senior living  
programs for veterans at the Danville VA, and the establishment of  
outpatient clinics for veterans in Mattoon and elsewhere.

Much of the criticism being disseminated about my record comes from  
the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. This is a pro-war  
organization whose board of directors includes several Wall Street  
investment bankers and Les Gelb, the president emeritus of the Council  
on Foreign Relations. Their vested interests obviously run counter to  
my outspoken opposition to the war in Afghanistan and to other  
misdirected, costly and life-sacrificing incursions in the Middle East.

As the saying goes, opposition to the war is not opposition to the  
warrior.

On many of my votes on these issues over the last decade, I was  
advised by my former Chief of Staff, Jerry Clarke, a lieutenant  
colonel and pilot in the Army Reserves who has served three tours of  
duty in Iraq.

My detractors on these issues are either misinformed or trying to  
deliberately mislead people for political gain. I hope this sets the  
record straight.

[U.S. Rep. Timothy Johnson, R-Urbana, represents Illinois' 15th  
Congressional District.]

On Nov 27, 2011, at 10:25 AM, Carl G. Estabrook wrote:

> The local Congressional representative, Tim Johnson, has a piece in  
> this morning's News-Gazette in response to an underhanded attack by  
> a pro-war Democratic front group that calls itself "Iraq and  
> Afghanistan Veterans of America." (The local chapter of Iraq  
> Veterans Against the War has been misled into repeating IAVA's  
> attack.)
>
> Even Johnson's opponents admit that his staff devotes a lot of time  
> to constituent services, and he easily refutes the charge that he  
> has been inattentive to veterans' concerns.  The real target of the  
> IAVA group is of course his anti-war voting record.
>
> I can't find Johnson's piece  on the increasingly inadequate News- 
> Gazette website, so I'll try to copy it and post it here later.  --CGE
>
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