Last week Virginia Foxx said on the radio: “I
was a little surprised when I heard Bob Filner in the earlier session
say that what we have to do is hug and love our veterans. Uh, that's
never been something that the Democrats have done. Uh, the Republicans
have, I think, very much loved and hugged our veterans and been
extremely grateful to them for what they've done. But they haven't
received the respect I think they should have received from the
Democrats. It’s the Democrats who are always talking about cutting the
budgets and not respecting, I think, our military like we should.”
Republicans have done their fair share of disrespecting the military and veterans. And Rep. Foxx, that includes you.
You
voted YES to support the war in Iraq and reject a timetable for the
withdrawal of US troops (H Res 861, Jun. 2006). You voted NO to
opposing President Bush's planned troop buildup in Iraq (H Con Res 63,
Feb. 2007). And you’ve voted every time to increase funding for the
Iraq war.
You voted NO to a ban
on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees held by US
forces, and to require the military to follow the Army field manual for
interrogations (HR 2863, Dec. 2005).
You
voted YES to support the Military Commissions Act which allows American
citizens to be declared “enemy combatants” and detained indefinitely
without charges, and that legally excuses abuses committed by US
military personnel in the war on terror (Sen. 3930, Sept. 2006).
You
voted NO to implementing many of the 9/11 Commission recommendations –
things like giving more funding to first responders, giving federal aid
to regions at the greatest risk of a terrorist attack, improving the
flow of intelligence between local law enforcement and first
responders, and giving assistance to countries willing to help the
United States fight nuclear proliferation (HR 1, Jan. 2007).
You even voted NO to funding renewable energy programs (HR 6, Jan. 2007).
I
suppose it is possible to see these votes as pro-military. I think they
disrespect and endanger the lives of our military personnel, as well as
the rest of us.
Your
votes tell our troops that dying in Iraq’s civil war is valiant. They
tell the world that it is ok to torture our troops since our troops
torture them. They tell the terrorists that we are still not ready for
future attacks. They tell the world that they cannot receive justice
for crimes committed by us. And they tell Americans that they don’t
need to worry about alternatives to oil – we’ll just continue to send
our children to their deaths take care of our energy needs.
Finally, Representative Foxx, your vote on HRC 224 (May 2005) – an amendment to the Military
Quality of Life appropriations bill, which would have improved
combat-related trauma care, increased compensation for surviving
spouses with children, and sped processing of veterans benefits – was
NO. And your vote was the difference, because the amendment failed
214-213.
But maybe if you hug and love them, veterans and their families will forgive you.