Sunday, July 08, 2007

By Bill Hess
Sierra Vista Herald/Review

SIERRA VISTA - The need to support veterans and their families is key to a number of military service organizations, Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was told Saturday.

Meeting with the recently formed Greater Sierra Vista United Veterans Council, the congresswoman, whose district includes Fort Huachuca and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, said she is sponsoring a number of House bills, and she promised to look into other issues addressed by the veterans.

Saturday was a military day for the freshman member of Congress.

First she met with the council. Later she met privately with military families and soldiers on the Army post.

Her assignment as a member of the House Armed Services Committee is something Giffords said “I requested and lobbied for.”

With a pair of major U.S. military installations in Congressional District 8, she said being a member of the committee allows her to advocate for all members of the armed forces, active, reserve, National Guard and retirees, as well as for those whose service may have been only a few years.

Her other committee assignments include Science and Technology and Foreign Affairs, both of which have a nexus to the military, Giffords said.

The current Congress, which has a slight Democrat majority in both chambers, is aware of the importance of the military and has added $3.5 billion more to the defense budget than was requested by Republican President George W. Bush, the congresswoman said, adding over the next five years the amount of funds added to the Department of Defense budget will equal $35 billion.

Saying members of Congress love talking about doing things when it comes to supporting the military, Giffords remarked her bottom line is “show me the money.”

Talking about an issue and passing a bill that has no funds tied to it is meaningless, she said.

Expressing concerns that the military is suffering from a lack of people, Giffords noted that during World War II one out of every 10 Americans served in the nation’s armed forces, which meant almost everyone knew someone who wore a uniform.

However, today the number in the military is one for every 300 citizens, which means not everyone knows a person wearing the uniform of a soldier, sailor, airman, Marine or Coast Guardsman, Giffords said.

And, today’s war on terrorism is creating major mental health care problems, which the nation, especially Congress has to address to ensure those who are suffering from those problems, either caused by wounds or other reasons, are taken care of, the congresswoman said.

One of the bills she supports is HR 2612, the Mental Health Care for Our Wounded Warriors Act. The proposed law requires the Department of Defense to establish two mental health centers of excellence that will coordinate with civilian providers and research institutes to promote understand the effect of combat on mental health. It also requires the department to develop a plan to resolve mental health personnel shortages in the defense community.

The aftermath of the Vietnam War saw 30 percent of that conflict’s veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Giffords said, adding recent studies indicate 20 percent of those involved in the war against terrorism “show signs of PTSD.”

It’s easier to treat physical wounds but more difficult to address mental ones, the congresswoman said. “We can’t see what’s going on in a person’s head.”

A major program for mental health treatment will be part of the VA Medical Center in Tucson but for those who live outside the immediate area receiving treatment is more difficult, Giffords noted.

Saying the nation has an obligation to help veterans become whole again, there is a need for facilities outside the main center where veterans in Cochise County can receive help, Giffords remarked.

It is estimated there are 20,000 veterans living in Cochise County - one out of every six country residents - and that does not include the active duty people stationed on Fort Huachuca.

Gene Fenstermacher, the legislative affairs director for the Coronado Chapter of the Military Officers Association of American and for the Cochise Chapter of the Air Force Association, provided the congresswoman with a number of other issues for her to look into when it comes to veterans and their families.

Ensuring the elderly veterans are not having benefits taken away or their surviving next-of-kin don’t suffer the same is important, he said.

As he spoke, Giffords wrote down the numbers and titles of a couple of bills that were not on her list of ones she supports.

After the meeting, Fenstermacher said he’s impressed with Giffords’ knowledge of veterans’ issues.

“She’s doing much better than I expected,” the self-proclaimed Republican said.

Noting he had a difficult time getting former Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe to respond to veterans’ issues, Fenstermacher said he puts Giffords at a higher level of wanting to ensure veterans are protected, even though Kolbe was a veteran himself.

Click here to read the article in the Sierra Vista Herald/Review