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| 28 (D) Congressmen Vote Vets Lower Than Felons, Junkies, Sex Offenders |
| 2008-01-20 |
| ... You see, last Thursday, just days after this little column focused on homeless vets and the myths surrounding them, Congress was in the process of extending the nation's giant federal housing program, called HOPE VI, through the year 2015. Cost to taxpayers: $800 million per year. The legislation as written (H.R. 3524) gave preference to a group called the "hard to house," people like convicted felons, sex offenders and drug abusers - some just weeks out of prison. But Republicans, led by Missouri Congressman Sam Graves, caught the ridiculousness of that preference and added an amendment to the bill while on the floor, rightly calling for HUD to put veterans before criminals when deciding eligibility. "Veterans should be at the front of the line," said Graves, a sixth-generation family farmer and relative newcomer to Washington. Here is the shame: The vote was 372 in favor of veterans getting HUD housing preference. But 28 Democrats, including Georgia's own John Lewis, actually voted to put vets at the back of the line behind criminals. How do they live with themselves? Graves' office stated, "This wasn't a Republican issue or a Democrat issue, it was an American issue. We owe our daily freedoms to veterans and this is one small thing we can do to say thank you." It's appalling that Lewis and the others couldn't vote yes for our heroes. Will they, I wonder, use the "homeless vets" argument in the future to prop up their anti-war rhetoric? Probably. Because they support the troops. right? |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #1 Vets don't vote democrat as reliably as the other groups. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2008-01-20 18:23 |