Washington, D.C. (November 21, 2003) - November 18, 2003
IS YOUR NAME ON THIS LIST?
COSPONSOR THE UPDATED VERSION OF THE BILL YOU ALREADY SUPPORT!
THE UPDATED “KEEP OUR PROMISE TO AMERICA’S MILITARY RETIREES ACT”
Cosponsors of HR 58 (200): Ackerman, Allen, Andrews, Baca, Baldwin, Barrett, Bass, Bell, Berkley, Berman, Berry, Biggert, Bilirakis, Bishop (GA), Bishop (NY), Bono, Boozman, Boswell, Boucher, Boyd, Bradley, Brown (FL), Brown (OH), Burgess, Burns, Burr, Calvert, Camp, Capps, Capuano, Cardoza, Carson (OK), Carson (IN), Case, Conyers, Cramer, Cummings, Davis (IL), Davis (VA), Davis (CA), Deal, DeFazio, DeGette, DeLauro, Deutsch, Diaz-Balart, L., Dicks, Dingell, Doggett, Dooley, Doyle, Duncan, Engel, Eshoo, Evans, Faleomavaega, Raff, Fattah, Filner, Flake, Fletcher, Foley, Forves, Fossella, Frank, Frost, Gallegly, Gibbons, Gillmor, Goode, Goodlatte, Gordon, Granger, Green, Grijalva, Hall, Hart, Hastings, Hayes, Hefley, Hoeffel, Holden, Holt, Honda, Hooley, Inslee, Israel, Jenkins, Johnson (TX), Johnson (IL), Jones (OH), Jones (NC), Kanjorski, Kaptur, Keller, Kelly, Kennedy, Kildee, Kilpatrick, Kind, King, Kingston, Kline, LaHood, Lambson, Lantos, Larson, LaTourette, Lewis (GA), Lewis (KY), Lucas, Lynch, Manzullo, Marshall, Matsui, McCarthy, McDermott, McCarthy, McDermott, McGovern, McIntyre, Meehan, Menendez, Mica, Michaud, Miller (NC), Miller (MI), Miller (CA), Miller (FL), Moore, Moran (VA), Moran (KS), Nadler, Napollitano, Neal, Ney, Norton, Norwood, Oberstar, Olver, Otter, Pascrell, Paul, Peterson, Pickering, Platts, Porter, Price, Rahall, Rehberg, Reyes, Rodriguez, Rogers (MI), Ross, Rothman, Roybal-Allard, Ryan (OH), Sanchez,Linda, Sanchez, Loretta, Sanders, Sandlin, Saxton, Schakowsky, Schiff, Scott, Sherman, Slaughter, Smith (WA), Solis, Souder, Sterans, Strickland, Sweeney, Tancredo, Taylor, Terry, Thompson, Tierney, Towns, Turner (TX), Turner (OH), Udall (CO), Udall (NM), Van Hollen, Vitter, Walden, Wamp, Watt, Waxman, Weiner, Wexler, Whitfield, Wicker, Wilson (SC), Woolsey, Wu
Dear Colleague,
The courts have ruled: only Congress can make good on promises made to America’s Military Veterans. HR 3474 IS A BIPARTISAN REVISION OF HR 58, to repair flaws in the first bill and address recent developments in the court wrangle to un-do the broken promise of health care for military retirees of World War II and Korea.
Seven years ago, Retired Air Force Colonel George “Bud” Day, the most highly decorated military officer alive today and my constituent, filed a breach of contract action on behalf of two retired colonels who contended they had been recruited into service as young men with the promise of lifetime health care upon retirement after serving at least twenty years. See Schism and Reinlie v. U.S.
WORLD WAR II AND KOREAN WAR-ERA RECRUITERS HAVE TESTIFIED UNDER OATH THAT THEY INDEED MADE THAT REPRESENTATION TO RECRUITS. That promise has been broken.
Col. Day and his class action members (http://www.classact-lawsuit.com/) won at the district court level, and fought to preserve that ruling all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In June, THE U.S. SUPREME COURT DECIDED NOT TO CONSIDER THE FINAL APPEAL, CAUSING THE NEED FOR REVISION TO HR 58.
As the Appeals Court said, IT IS NOW UP TO CONGRESS TO BRING EQUITY TO “AMERICA’S GREATEST GENERATION.” THEY ARE NOT ASKING FOR HANDOUTS – THEY ASK ONLY FOR WHAT WAS PROMISED TO THEM AND WHAT THEY EARNED.
IF THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT KEEP ITS PROMISES, HOW WILL WE CONTINUE TO ATTRACT LOYAL AND HONORABLE MEN AND WOMEN TO MILITARY SERVICE?
SHOW THE MILITARY FAMILIES IN YOUR DISTRICT THAT A PROMISE MADE IS A PROMISE KEPT. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor HR 3474. For background information or to Cosponsor, please contact Helen Walker with Rep. Miller (R-FL) at x54136, Phil Alperson with Rep. Van Hollen (D-MD) at x55341, Nancy Lifset with Rep. Cunningham (R-CA) at 55452, or John Conger with Rep. Edwards (D-TX) at x56105.
With warm personal regards, I am
Sincerely,
Jeff Miller
Member of Congress
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