Another Roskam Vote Against Services for Illinois Veterans
On Thursday, Nov 15th, just before leaving for his Thanksgiving vacation, Peter Roskam again voted against a package of services that would help Illinois veterans.
The measure, H.R. 3043, would have provided significant aid to veterans returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq and facing problems associated with job loss and disabilities such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. The vote was to override President Bush’s veto. Peter Roskam and many of his Republican colleagues voted to support the President in his effort to deny funding for veterans services including:
- $228 million for employment programs for veterans
- $3.6 billion for job training programs
- $3.4 billion in unemployment-insurance and employment-services programs
- $906 million for mental health services
- $23.6 million for homeless veterans
The President and the Republican delegation labeled these items as “pork” in defending their decisions.
Roskam likes to pose for pictures with wounded veterans to promote his political aims, but when it comes to supporting our returning soldiers with funding for needed services, Roskam says “no”.
3 comments
[...] the other way, just last fall, and, aligned with George Bush, refused to help veterans in need - twice! Democrats in Congress had proposed a package of aid for returning vets to the tune of several [...]
How did Roskam vote on the recent Farm Bill?
I’m organizing an event at my home this Friday re: Haitian food crisis….and my research is showing how much our food aid is linked to our farm bill. I’ve found soooo many goodies…….anyway, do you know how he voted?
Lynda: Thanks for reading. I have to confess that I don’t really understand all that transpired on the Farm Bill on May 8th. The bill was passed by the House way back in July and by the Senate in December. Now the conference committee is working on a final bill. There were two votes on May 8 on motions to instruct conferees. Roskam voted Aye on both but the implications of those votes are unclear to me. You can follow the trail of events here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h2419/show. If you can decipher what is happening, I’d be interested to hear. Our Congress has a long way to go toward transparency.
Leave a Comment