For my Mom and for our Veterans

BUSH-CHENEY FACT CHECK: Support for Our Veterans


Response to the 8/2/04 “Open Letter to Iowa Veterans from Twenty-four Medal of Honor Recipients”


BUSH-CHENEY CREDIBILITY GAP: Funding for VA Health Care


CLAIM: “Since 2001, President Bush has increased veterans funding by over $20 billion, and funding for veterans' health care has increased by 40 percent since he took office. Funding for veterans has gone up twice as fast under President Bush as it did under President Clinton, and those who accuse the President of cutting funding are simply not being honest with veterans.”


THE RECORD: Bush Has Turned His Back on America’s Veterans & Has Allowed Waiting Lines & Costs to Grow on His Watch


Bush Failed to Fully Fund Veterans Health Care. Bush's 2005 budget falls more than $2.6 billion short of the amount needed to fully fund quality veterans' health care, according to The Independent Budget, an annual collective assessment by four veterans’ service organizations of the funding levels and policy changes needed at VA. [AMVETS Release, 2/3/04; VFW Release, 2/2/04]

Bush Administration Calls For Total Closure of Three Veterans Hospitals, Partial Closure of Eight Others. In May 2004, the Administration decided to push for the closure of hospitals in Brecksville, OH; Gulfport, MS; and, Highland Drive, PA. Eight VA hospitals will be partially closed. In most cases, inpatient care will move to larger hospitals, leaving behind an outpatient clinic or long-term-care beds. The Administration is planning partial closures in Knoxville, IA; Canandaigua, NY; Livermore, CA; Montrose, NY; Kerrville, TX; Saginaw, MI; Ft. Wayne, IN; and Butler, PA. In 2003, the Bush Administration proposed the closure of seven hospitals in its efforts to “restructure” the Department of Veterans Affairs. [USA Today, 5/7/04; AP, 8/4/03, 10/28/03, 12/16/03]


Spending on Prescription Drugs Has More than Doubled Over Five Years. The amount spent on prescription drugs has more than doubled over the past five years, from $87 billion in 1998 to $184 billion in 2003. Americans are spending more on prescription drugs today than ever before. [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, National Health Expenditure Projections, Feb. 2004]


Bush Cut Waiting List By Eliminating Veterans. The Bush Administration boasts of cutting waitlists for VA health care, but they have done so by excluding nearly 500,000 veterans (Priority 7 and 8) from enrolling in VA health care. [Federal Register, Part 4 – CFR Part 17, 1/17/03]


Bush Tried to Impose New Costs on Middle-Income Vets. Bush’s 2005 budget will institute a new annual $250 enrollment fee and an increase in prescription drug co-pays from $7 to $15 for middle-income veterans. In 2003, The Bush Administration publicly opposed Senate efforts to block increases in health care costs for veterans, including a new $250 annual enrollment fee for VA medical care, a proposed increase in pharmaceutical co-pays, and the Senate's addition of $1.3 billion in emergency funding for medical benefits. And in December 2001, Bush more than tripled the prescription co-payments for nonservice-connected veterans from $2 to $7. [CQ, 2/2/04; Statement of Administrative Policy, 11/12/03; The Times Leader, 10/9/03]


Bush Refused to Help Out Veterans with Rising Health Care Costs. The Bush Administration publicly opposed Senate efforts to block increases in health care costs for veterans, including a new $250 annual enrollment fee for VA medical care, a proposed increase in pharmaceutical co-pays, and the Senate's addition of $1.3 billion in emergency funding for medical benefits. The letter is dated Nov. 12, less than 24 hours after Bush laid a wreath in Arlington. [Statement of Administrative Policy, 11/12/03]


Future Vets Cuts Planned: Recently a leaked OMB memo showed that the Bush Administration plans to cut veterans funding after the election. The secret memo showed that the VA should expect $900 million in cuts in FY2006.


BUSH-CHENEY CREDIBILITY GAP: Concurrent Receipt & Funding for Troops in Iraq & Afghanistan


CLAIM: “Meanwhile, John Kerry voted against a $1.3 billion increase in veterans health care, skipped votes on concurrent receipt and voted against funding for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.”


THE RECORD: John Kerry Is The Only Candidate Who Will Make VA Funding MANDATORY & Will FULLY FUND Concurrent Receipt to End the Disabled Veterans Tax


Bush Threatened to Veto $87 Billion for Troops in Iraq & Afghanistan.
“The White House threatened Tuesday to veto its own spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan if Congress made reconstruction aid a loan, taking its most forceful stand on the issue even as more lawmakers supported a reimbursement by Iraq. After declining to threaten a veto last week before the Senate voted to lend up to $10 billion to Iraq, the White House surprised many people on Capitol Hill with its warning…Last week, without using the word "veto," Mr. Bush called on a series of wavering lawmakers and made it clear that he would not appreciate a vote for a loan. The statement on Tuesday, after eight Republican senators defied him last week and helped form a majority in favor of a $10 billion loan, was the strongest threat to date. "If this provision is not removed, the president's senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill," Joshua B. Bolten, the White House budget director, wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders.” [Firestone, New York Times, 10/22/03]


Only John Kerry Will Ensure Mandatory Funding To Assure Quality Health Care.
“Over the last three years, whole classes of veterans have been locked out of the VA health care system. Decisions by the Bush administration will, at the current rate, exclude approximately 500,000 veterans by 2005. That's nothing more than rationed health care. As president, John Kerry will insist on mandatory funding for veterans' health care to ensure that no veteran's health need ever goes unmet.” [http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/veterans/served.html]


Only John Kerry Will Fully Eliminate The "Disabled Veterans" Tax.
Today, hundreds of thousands of disabled military retirees are being taxed on their disabilities. Under an 1891 law, retirees who receive both pensions and disability compensation must surrender one dollar from their military retirement pay for every dollar they receive in disability compensation - so their disability pay is actually being subtracted from their retirement fund. Military retirees with disabilities are the only category of Federal employees that lose some of their retirement simply because they are disabled. John Kerry thinks this policy needs to end. As president, he will enact "full concurrent receipt," a policy that would do away with the archaic 1891 law and allow veterans with disabilities to receive both the retirement they've earned and the disability payments they are due. [http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/veterans/served.html]


Bush Opposed Fixing The Disabled Veterans Tax. Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recommended that Bush veto the defense appropriations bill if it contained a fix to the concurrent receipt problem that penalizes military retirees who also receive disability assistance. The concurrent receipt ban stops a veteran who receives disability compensation from also receiving military retirement pay, effectively punishing disabled military retirees. Rumsfeld wrote that if the bill, “authorizes concurrent receipt of military retirement pay and veterans’ disability compensation benefits, or expands TRICARE, then I would join other senior advisors to the President in recommending that he veto the bill.” [Rumsfeld Letter to Rep. Duncan Hunter, 7/8/03]


John Kerry Has a Long History of Supporting Greater Funding for Veterans Health Care


John Kerry has a long history of supporting better veterans’ health and he has worked in the Senate to increase spending on veteran health care. In 2001, Kerry voted to increase funding for veterans health care by $1.7 billion. In 1999, Kerry also voted to increase medical care for Veterans Health Administration and to give another $1.3 billion for overall veterans’ health care. Kerry is continuing to work for veterans and, “in calling for greater access to health care for veterans, cited estimates of nearly 235,000 veterans on a waiting list for Veterans Administration services, with tens of thousands waiting to access their prescription drug benefit. Kerry is sponsoring legislation that would permit veterans already on the waiting list to fill a prescription written by a private physician at a VA hospital.” Kerry repeated his commitment to veterans’ health recently during a trip to Iowa: “Co-founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America and a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Kerry made frequent reference to his war service. Thousands of veterans are now being denied promised health care benefits, he said. "I'm particularly sensitive that we keep faith with those who have worn the uniform of their country." [Senate Roll Call Vote 1999, #285, #286; 2001, # 84; AP 5/30/03; The Hawk Eye, 6/1/03]


BUSH-CHENEY CREDIBILITY GAP: Support for ‘Old Glory’


CLAIM: “And while he talks a good game, Kerry's record shows he is out of the mainstream. The American Flag symbolizes our ideals, our history and our values. President Bush shares this belief and supports a Constitutional Amendment banning desecration of the Flag. John Kerry believes this is ‘an attack on free speech’.”


THE REALITY: John Kerry Fought For & Under ‘Old Glory’


John Kerry’s Statement About “Old Glory” From His Nomination Acceptance Speech: “You see that flag up there. We call her Old Glory. The stars and stripes forever. I fought under that flag, as did so many of you here and all across our country. That flag flew from the gun turret right behind my head. It was shot through and through and tattered, but it never ceased to wave in the wind. It draped the caskets of men I served with and friends I grew up with. For us, that flag is the most powerful symbol of who we are and what we believe in. Our strength. Our diversity. Our love of country. All that makes America both great and good. That flag doesn't belong to any president. It doesn't belong to any ideology and it doesn't belong to any political party. It belongs to all the American people.” [http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0729.html]


John Kerry’s Thoughts on Flag Burning: “As I've said before, if I saw someone burning the flag, I'd punch them in the mouth because I love the flag, but the Constitution that I fought for preserves the right of free expression.” – John Kerry [AP, 11/11/03]


John Kerry Shares View of Colin Powell & John Glenn on a Constitutional Amendment:
Colin Powell: Current Bush Secretary of State, Vietnam Veteran, Retired Four Star General, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: “We are rightfully outraged when anyone attacks or desecrates our flag. They may be destroying a piece of cloth, but they do no damage to our system of freedom which tolerates such desecration. I really don’t want to amend the Constitution to prosecute someone for foolishly desecrating their own property. We should condemn them and pity them instead. I understand the powerful sentiment in state legislatures for such an amendment. I feel the same sense of outrage. But I step back from amending the Constitution to relieve that outrage. The First Amendment exists to insure that freedom of speech and expression applies not just to that with which we agree or disagree, but also that which we find outrageous. I would not amend that great shield of democracy to hammer a few miscreants. Finally, I shudder to think of the legal morass we will create trying to implement the body of law that will emerge from such an amendment. I would not vote for the proposed amendment.” – (Ret.) General Colin Powell [Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy, 5/18/99]


John Glenn: Former Marine Test Pilot, World War II & Korean War Veteran, Mercury Astronaut, First American to Orbit the Earth and Retired Ohio Senator: “For those who served in the armed services, we risked our lives because we believed it was our duty to defend our nation. I can tell you that in combat you do not start out thinking about the philosophy of our nation. When you start a run on a ground position from the air, through antiaircraft, or lead a patrol where people are getting shot, you do not think about those philosophical thoughts. It is the survival of the moment that holds your attention. Only later do you think about some of these great philosophical thoughts. But every last tiny fiber in our flag stands for someone who has given his or her life to defend what it stands for. Many of us here have as many friends in Arlington Cemetery, bearing silent witness to our flag, as we do bearing public witness to it in the world of the living. Maybe that is why I have so little patience, and even less sympathy, for those pathetic and insensitive few who would demean and defile our nation's greatest symbol of sacrifice. They deserve harsh censure. This amendment should be defeated. The dangers from it far outweigh the threat that we have to the flag. I simply do not believe that this is a major problem for this country requiring an amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Our most revered symbol stands for freedom but is not freedom itself. We must not let those who revile our way of life trick us into diminishing our great gift or even take a chance of diminishing our freedoms. ”—John Glenn [Testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, 4/28/99]


BUSH-CHENEY CREDIBILITY GAP: Supporting Troops


CLAIM: “Please join us in setting the record straight and showing your support for President Bush -- a leader who has proven his support for those who have served, backs our troops defending our nation and shares our values.”


THE REALITY: Bush Sent Troops to Iraq Under-prepared for War


Bush’s Own Army Secretary Said They Were “Not Prepared” for Prolonged Involvement in Iraq: “When the Saddam Hussein government collapsed, U.S. troops in Iraq figured the war was over, except for some mopping up. But as the acting secretary of the Army, Les Brownlee, acknowledged to Congress last week, ‘we simply were not prepared’ for the insurgency that developed in early summer, prolonging the war and taking the lives of hundreds of American soldiers. One 3rd Infantry soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Eric Wright, put it this way in Iraq last June: ‘What was told to us was that we would fight and win and go home.’ It's not that simple.” [Associated Press, 3/13/04]

Bush Forcing Military to Face Back to Back Deployments: “The Army is spread so thin around the globe that when it needs fresh combat troops for Iraq this fall it will have little choice but to call on the same soldiers who led the charge into Baghdad last spring. The 3rd Infantry Division already has been given an official "warning order" to prepare to return to Iraq as soon as Thanksgiving. When those soldiers flew home from Iraq last summer to their bases in Georgia, few of them could have known they were, in effect, on a roundtrip ticket. They are not alone in facing back-to-back deployments to Iraq. Some of the same Marines who teamed up with the 3rd Infantry to topple Baghdad are already assembling again in Kuwait, only a matter of months after returning home, and more Marines will go next year.” [Associated Press, 3/13/04]


Bush Sent Troops to Iraq Without Body Armor: “But it's also true that as many as 40,000 US troops were sent to Iraq without the best-grade body armor. Frontline troops had the new vests, containing ceramic plates that can stop assault-rifle bullets, while others had only older designs that offered protection mainly against shrapnel and lower-velocity projectiles. At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing Sept. 24, 2003, Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command, did not dispute the estimate that 40,000 troops were without the newer design, and said the $300 million was needed to buy more of the vests.” Abizaid: “Now, I can't answer for the record why we started this war with protective vests that were in short supply. But I can tell you that by November, every soldier that's serving in Iraq will have one. It's very important.” [www.FactCheck.org]