Where does Senator Gordon Smith really stand with Veterans

Vets back Smith on military health care, Rassmann says Smith voted with Bush Administration
By Britten Chase
Category: US Senate
Fifty-three Oregon veterans released a joint statement Tuesday defending U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith’s (R-Pendleton) record of voting to improve health care for injured troops.

“Gordon works for us, he works for Oregon. We served our country and we know Gordon Smith now serves us,”said John Leonard, United States Army Retired, one of the veterans who signed onto the statement. “We trust his judgment, his commitment to bipartisan solutions, and we’re proud to have him serve as Oregon’s senator.”

The Smith campaign brought the veterans together to respond to an ad it says falsely attacked Smith for cutting health benefits for veterans. The Smith campaign said that during his career, Smith voted for $276 billion in funding for the Veterans Health Administration, and that overall funding for the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs increased by 125 percent since Smith took office in 1997.

But Jim Rassmann, the vet most famous for crediting former presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) with saving his life, said that any increases the V.A. saw under Smith's watch had nothing to do with Oregon's incumbent senator.

"If Gordon Smith is telling me he's voting for all this funding, I would take that information with my tongue firmly in cheek," Rassmann said over the phone as he was driving from Eugene to Florence.

According to Disabled American Veterans, Smith supported 11 bills and cast votes against 20 bills that would have helped vets. Rassmann attributed Smith's attempts to validate his record on veterans health benefits as an election-year ploy.
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From Vote Smart
10/05/2005
Health Care for Veterans Amendment
HR 2863
N
Motion Failed - Senate(48 - 51)


The record from Washington Post
Roles in Congress
· 110th Congress: Senator, Oregon, Republican. Jan. 4, 2007, to Jan. 3, 2011.
· 109th Congress: Senator, Oregon, Republican. Jan. 3, 2005, to Jan. 3, 2007.
· 108th Congress: Senator, Oregon, Republican. Jan. 3, 2003, to Jan. 3, 2005.
· 107th Congress: Senator, Oregon, Republican. Jan. 3, 2001, to Jan. 3, 2003.
· 106th Congress: Senator, Oregon, Republican. Jan. 3, 1999, to Jan. 3, 2001.
· 105th Congress: Senator, Oregon, Republican. Jan. 3, 1997, to Jan. 3, 1999.



As for American suffering in this financial mess:

3/10/05
Vote 44: S 256: Made it harder for people to erase debt by declaring bankruptcy.
Smith Yes
GOP Yes
Democrats No

2/10/05
Vote 9: S 5: Sought to curtail the ability of plaintiffs to file class-action lawsuits against corporations by making cases that were filed in multiple states the responsibility of federal courts.
Smith Yes
GOP Yes
Democrats No