House Republican made the unusual move to oust an incumbent in Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Christopher Smith, a lawmaker with strong allies in the veterans' community. Smith, who has served 24 years on the committee and four years as chairman, has guided some major legislation to passage, including modernizing the GI bill, strengthening legal protections and expanding health care services and benefits. But he has also alienated House GOP leaders at times by pressing for veterans' benefits and publicly saying that Republican budgets were insufficient to meet the needs of veterans, especially when the Bush administration and Congress is trying their best to show their wartime commitment to troops and veterans.
On Monday the leaders of eight veterans groups, including The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and Vietnam Veterans of America, wrote to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., urging him to retain Smith as head of the committee.
"The unnecessary loss of his leadership would be a deeply disturbing development not just to us, but to millions of veterans across the country whose lives he has touched," they wrote.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
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Disgusting, but not surprising. Could we expect House Republicans to do anything other then put Bush's tax cuts ahead of the needs of our veterans?
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