A For Effort, C For Work Completed
Recently, Rep. Mike Pence has made a point of speaking out for our troops. On May 14, 2009, he took to the House floor and rose to support "the military funding in H.R. 2356, the FY 2009 War Supplemental Appropriations Bill. It will provide nearly $85 billion to support our men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, those who every day make the sacrifices necessary to ensure our freedom and that of our posterity." Those are beautiful words, but Rep. Pence's actions aren't in keeping with his rhetoric.
Despite Rhetoric, Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans Of America Gave Rep. Pence A "C"
In remarks in support of H.R. 2356, the FY 2009 War Supplemental Appropriations Bill, Rep. Pence took the opportunity to make a number of partisan remarks while speaking on the need for support for "men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, those who every day make the sacrifices necessary to ensure our freedom and that of our posterity."
"I am particularly pleased that it does so without arbitrary benchmarks and timetables for withdrawal that have been so much the debate of war supplementals in recent years in this Congress. I'm also pleased that none of the funding requested by the Administration related to Guantanamo Bay has been included.
President Obama was simply wrong to announce plans to close Guantanamo Bay without any plan for what to do with the dangerous terrorist detainees who remain there to this day. The American people deserve to know that this Congress and this government are putting their safety and their interests above world opinion in decisions about terrorist detainees.
I'll support this bill because I support our troops, but I'll continue to call for this Congress to do a service for those heroes and future generations by practicing fiscal discipline and reform."
Yet when push came to shove, Rep. Pence supported Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans only 9 out of 13 times.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Rep. Pence a grade of "C" in 2008 for his votes on the issues that matter most to veterans.
If Rep. Pence really wants to support the troops, he should do so with actions rather than empty rhetoric.
