Veterans in Congress at lowest point in 40 years, it shows

Congress lacks veterans, empathy, critics say
Boston Globe
By Kimberly Railey
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
MARCH 14, 2014

WASHINGTON — When Senator John E. Walsh, an Iraq War veteran with 33 years of military service, was sworn into office last month, he expected that veterans’ issues could unite lawmakers, even in an atmosphere gripped by partisanship and gridlock.

But when the Senate derailed a sweeping bill to expand a host of post-military benefits two weeks later, on Feb. 27, Walsh saw how even an area that typically enjoys bipartisan support can crumble amid partisan acrimony. In addition to concerns over the package’s $21 billion cost, the legislation was defeated for an entirely unrelated reason: new penalties against Iran that Republicans sought.

“If more men and women in the US Congress would have served or had family members that served, that bill would have passed,” Walsh, a Montana Democrat, said in an interview. “They would have realized that we’re talking about veterans and their families.”

The number of veterans serving in Congress is at its lowest point in nearly 40 years, even as America winds down its military presence overseas. There are 18 senators and 83 representatives who are veterans, according to data compiled by the American Legion, a veterans advocacy group.

But the defeat of the veterans bill in the Senate was mostly a party-line vote, with all Republicans who are veterans opposing the measure. The divide signals another marker of the polarization that has plagued the chamber in recent years: The political affiliation of senators trumps their shared military bonds, even on legislation for veterans’ benefits that many people across the political spectrum say is needed.

The bill, which would have provided medical, job-training, and education benefits to veterans, failed to secure enough Republican support in a 56 to 41 procedural budget vote that fell mostly along party lines.
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