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Archiver > HUBBARD > 1999-11 > 0942392657


From: Jeremy L Beller <>
Subject: [HUBBARD-L] Vet day
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 02:44:17 -0500


Hi, as this is vets day, hope this has meaning, although it is off topic.
I hope this makes you as mad as it did me. These are the same people
that not so very long ago voted themselves a 50% pay raise.

4.8% for a 1,000 base pay is just 48.00.

Who voted against the 4.8% Military Pay raise? I understand that these
are the guys who voted against a military payraise of 4.8%. Also below,
a Master Sergeant's letter. It is quite impressive. The source is pretty
good.

---NAYs 11---
Bayh (IN)
Graham (FL)
Robb (VA)
Boxer (CA)
Harkin (IA)
Voinovich (OH)
Feingold (WI)
Kohl (WI)
Wellstone (MN)
Fitzgerald (IL)
McCain (AZ) (Hard to believe from a guy who spent 6 years in the
Hanoi
Hilton!)

MSGT's Letter to his Senator

Dear Senator Voinovich, Unless you are planning on this being
your last term in the Senate, I cannot for the life of me figure out why
you would attempt to undermine a much deserved although paltry 4.8
percent pay raise to military men and women that make sacrifices that
you cannot even comprehend!

As a registered Republican voter, born and reared in
the Buckeye state, I have a few questions I would like to ask you.

1) When was the last time you spent months on end in some
God-forsaken country, separated from family and friends?

2) Has your service to the nation ever required you to go beyond
100 days without a real shower?

3) Has any of your Senate duties required you to lie awake at
night in a tent with a dozen other sweating Senators, gagging at the
wretched smell of oil well fires, and listening to desert winds beat
your tent into submission?

4) Have you ever been denied the basic freedoms most Americans
take for granted?

5) Have you ever forgotten what a real cheeseburger tastes like?

You are so quick to try and squash a pay raise that would still
leave a large portion of military families below the poverty level in
our
nation.

Please remind me again of the last time you voted and lobbied
against a pay raise for yourself and fellow Senators?

Have you ever refused a pay increase to help balance the budget?

I dare you to compare the percentage of pay raises voted by
Senators for Senators since my career began in 1981!

The AP article stated that between 8,000 and 16,000 military
families are on food stamps. Even though I believe this to be a very
conservative estimate, it is not a shame for hard working Americans
to get much needed assistance.
The real shame is that thousands and thousands of military
families are even eligible for food stamps, but are too proud to accept
a handout!

The majority of our military families require both parents to work,
while the military member works an additional part-time job just to
make ends meet.

I anxiously await the reunification with my family in mid March.
The operations tempo and family separations are something I don't
expect you to understand without experiencing it first hand. However,
with your political pull I'm sure you could arrange to return to Saudi
with me this November.

The rotation in November will make the third time in two years
I've left my family to proudly support the country that I love.

Yes, Mr. Voinovich, we could spend Thanksgiving and Christmas
together enjoying meals hard to identify by the appearance and taste.
You could help me write a letter to my wife on our 19th anniversary in
January. Possibly you could bring one of your speechwriters and assist
me with a letter to my twins explaining why dad had to miss yet another
birthday, explaining it's for the good of our country. Before we go home
Valentine's Day will roll around and by now, maybe even you will be
missing your family.

I could help you make that handmade card expressing your longing
to be with them again. After all, I've had plenty of practice and I'm
sure
we could come up with something appropriate.

Should I reserve you a cot? Tent space can be a real premium
during the holidays so you may want to make your reservations early. I'm
sure I can round up an extra flak vest and helmet for you.
Even better yet, you can borrow my friend Billy Marshall's gear.
He won't be needing it; however, he would sure like to have his left
hand
and leg back that he lost in an explosion while deployed over here.

Look on the bright side, you will get an extra $3.50 per day,
while it may not be what you're used to, it adds up after 120 days!
I have a feeling that you would re-think your vote after our
vacation together. As I near the 20 year mark and become eligible for
retirement, I could speak awhile on the minimum of 20 years required to
receive 40-50 percent of BASE pay for retirement. But then again with a
Senator's eligibility and retirement plan you wouldn't know where I was
coming from.

It's political decisions like your recent voting record that drive
me toward retirement and the pursuit of other areas of interest. With
the thought of returning to Ohio as a civilian, there is one thing that
I
will not throw the towel in on. My family and I will continue to vote
our
beliefs and convictions for the direction of our country.

Mr. Voinovich, you obviously have lost touch with your
constituents and have decided to throw in the political towel yourself.
I have stood on the simple leadership philosophy, "A LEADER KNOWS
THE WAY, GOES THE WAY, AND SHOWS THE WAY!"

You obviously do not know the way since you've never been there
yourself. I do not see you volunteering to go any time soon, and you
will
never show the way to deficit reduction when voting down a deserving
military raise and heaping bountiful blessings upon yourself.

Proud to Serve,

MSgt Rocky Dunlap Chief,
EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight)
Eskan Village, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In closing I invite those of you with family and friends serving
in the military to remember the eight Senators voting NO. Remember
them when our brave men and women celebrate holidays away from
their loved ones. Remember our Senators when you hear of the growing
peacekeeping missions springing up around the world. But above all
else, remember our Senators when you go to the polls and vote!



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