Senate launches Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Caucus. Do you think this political coalition can make a difference?

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 14:27:52 -0400

Lawmakers in the newly formed Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Caucus hope the coalition can speed reforms for the Veterans Affairs Department by brokering a deal for their respective parties.

“I think this is the perfect caucus to do that kind of work,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a co-founder of the new group. “We want to move legislation that benefits our veterans. We think a lot of the issues are urgent … and I think there is a ton of common ground.”

Founders of the caucus, launched this week, also include the co-chairs of the Congressional Veterans’ Job Caucus (Sens. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.) and Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, one of the few Iraq veterans to have served in the chamber.

The group unveiled plans to be a legislative force on VA and military issues at a media event with officials from Student Veterans of America and business leaders from Uber and Starbucks, which recently announced new efforts to hire thousands of veterans and military spouses in coming years.

Read more at ...

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2015/08/07/senate-iraq-afghanistan-caucus/31278441/

Senate launches Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Caucus

Lawmakers in the newlyformed Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Caucus hope the coalition can speed reforms for the Veterans AffairsDepartment by brokering a deal for their respective parties.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 7 at 2015 2:29 PM

CW4 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 14:29:00 -0400

I sure hope so. If they truly care, then they will find a way to make a difference.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Aug 7 at 2015 2:29 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 14:29:37 -0400

I think it's good to have a voice set up by the Senate. Hopefully they are more willing to listen to them other some of the other organizations trying to be heard.

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Aug 7 at 2015 2:30 PM

SSgt Alex Robinson — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 14:30:14 -0400

Yes. We need a voice in DC who understands what we went thru/are going thru!

Response by CPT Pedro Meza made Aug 7 at 2015 2:56 PM

CPT Pedro Meza — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 14:56:34 -0400

I hope, but it is more smoke and mirrors for a problems that have persisted since the Vietnam war.

Response by SSG Ricardo Marcial made Aug 7 at 2015 5:00 PM

SSG Ricardo Marcial — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 17:00:18 -0400

We don't need another debate team in Washington, we need leaders that can get the work done to end the backlog and bring an end to 22 veterans loss because they can't get it done. They spent trillions fighting the war, but they won't spend a dime to take care and fixing the men and women they sent to war.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 8 at 2015 2:45 AM

PO1 John Miller — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 02:45:39 -0400

Sure it looks good on paper, but years of mismanagement have made me apathetic, or given me a "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude.

I'm afraid that politicians are doing this just to make it look like they're doing something about it.

Response by COL Vincent Stoneking made Aug 8 at 2015 1:12 PM

COL Vincent Stoneking — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 13:12:38 -0400

It's good, but let's not oversell ourselves. A caucus is just a group of people with some common interest. It is not a legislative body, and agency, etc. It may well help these legislators who are veterans network and coordinate activities more effectively. It may allow them to frame and stay on message around veteran's issues - which is hugely important. However, at the end of the day, each of these Senators still has the 1 vote they had at the start of the day.

I think we really need more veterans in congress and I applaud this action. However, it is only one small step.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Aug 9 at 2015 11:43 AM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Sun, 09 Aug 2015 11:43:03 -0400

Without more veterans in Congress, the White House and the Pentagon (e.g. Ash Carter is NOT a vet as far as I know), nothing will really change...

Response by SSG Robert Webster made May 17 at 2019 9:00 AM

SSG Robert Webster — Fri, 17 May 2019 09:00:31 -0400

Why did the House of Representatives or the Senate create another swamp monster? When this discussion was started 4 years ago, there were 300 of these monstrous formal organizations in Congress (specifically the House of Representatives), today there are about 518 of them. (See linked document.)
Do you realize that these types of organizations are just another form of lobbying group that directly siphons money directly from the government coffers for their financial support? These organizations have gotten out of control along with the members of congress that are members of these entities.

"The number of identified informal Member organizations since the 92nd Congress (1971-1972) is provided in Table 1 (pages 4-5 of linked file), which shows how an increase began in the 1970s and has increased more markedly since the 1990s. The Committee on House Administration lists 518 registered CMOs for the 115th Congress, which includes House-only organizations and some bicameral organizations. It is more challenging to tally the number of informal Member groups because they are not officially tracked by the House or Senate. Self-reported information from House Members’ offices in the Congressional Yellow Book identifies an additional 158 groups, some of which may be House-only and some of which may be bicameral groups. Self-reported information from Senators’ offices in the Congressional Yellow Book identifies 178 groups, some of which may be Senate-only and some of which may be bicameral groups." https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40683.pdf

Please read the Congressional Research Service publication (linked in this statement) - Congressional Member Organizations (CMOs) and Informal Member Groups: Their Purpose and Activities, History, and Formation; Updated January 23, 2019

R40683.pdf

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