Yesterday, President Obama signed landmark comprehensive bi-partisan legislation into law to support our Veterans. This law passed with enormous bi-partisan support in the House, 419-0, with only three Republican representatives sitting out the vote. Lamar Smith was one of those three.
Lamar Smith turned his back on our almost 83,000 veterans living in TX-21, with over 21,000 of those living with a service-connected disability. Instead of remembering the sacrifices our dedicated service members have made in defense of this country, and honoring our promise to them, he failed to vote to support their needs. 419 of his colleagues showed that they understand the values of our county by
* voting for veteran caregiver support
* voting to prepare the VA for the influx of women veterans who will access care in the coming years
* voting to prevent veteran homelessness
* voting to improve the health care provided to our rural veterans
* voting to increase mental health care access, and
* voting to extend benefits to certain Vietnam-era veterans exposed to herbicide, and Gulf-War era veterans who have insufficient medical evidence to establish a service-connected disability.
Lamar Smith has exhibited a consistent record lacking support for our troops and our veterans. He voted to send our men and women into war against Iraq based on flawed intelligence. He voted against creating a mandatory rest period between deployments for our over-worked troops. And he put our troops in increased danger by supporting the use of waterboarding.
It is our duty as representatives of our country to put our men and women in harm’s way only as a last resort, and when we do, to care for them when they return. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Thank you to all of who have sacrificed yourself and your family for each of us, thank you for your service.
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Lainey Melnick
Candidate for US Congress
Texas 21st District
http://www.LaineyForCongress.com
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