Military Hearing
Senator Hillary Clinton - NY
Congressman Steve Israel - NY
Submitted by Josephine Girardin
I am on the mailing list of the Long Island Parents of the Deployed, and I guess through that, received an invitation to attend a hearing with Congressman Steve Israel and Senator Hillary Clinton today at the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale. (What a great place; a definite one to go back to. There were some WWII Vets and some Rosie Riveters there!)
There was a panel of speakers ranging from parents who had lost sons in Iraq, wives left here trying to keep families and homes afloat, and a returning injured soldier.
The crux of the meeting was to hear first hand testimonials about problems encountered by returning soldiers and those who are left here as loved ones are serving in Iraq. Since we have no large bases on Long Island, many of the services normally offered are unavailable to families here on Long Island. With the active role of the National Guard, many local families are affected.
It was heart wrenching to hear the stories of homes being foreclosed on, cars being repossessed, medical services being denied or not covered, and bills that injured soldiers received for their transport TO the hospital once injured! Existing laws that are supposed to protect soldiers from some of these problems are not being followed. Israel is working on initiatives to deal with pay-gap issues of soldiers coming in from the Guard, or being called back into active duty and forced to leave their jobs. As Hillary put it, "no soldier driving around in a humvee in harm's way should have to worry about his family car being repossessed back home."
She and Israel also spoke to the many problems with Tri-Care (off-base medical care).
They have made strides in some of the issues, and now armed with names and faces to go with the situations, are returning to work in the hopes of acheiving due benefits for our guys and gals serving in the Armed Forces.
Please continue to pray for all our boys, girls, men, and women in harm's way.
Jo
ps-Long Islanders: Watch News12 tonight and you'll see me in the audience.(Not a happy face as alot of what we heard was difficult to hear and TOO close to home!)
