OpPlan Equity Act
Sometime shortly after the Inauguration, the bill will be reintroduced. It will be read and then referred to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Chaired by Bob Filner [D-CA]. It may possibly be referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Chaired by John Hall [D-NY].
There will be hearings, and eventually the bill will go to the floor for a vote.
We need to apply the highest pressure to our Congressional Representatives and Senators that we have to date.
Rule 1: STOP CALLING IT HR6562! It is The Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009. HR 6562 was last year's version and it is dead and gone. No problem with referring to HR 6562 as last year's version when reminding your Congresscritters that they promised to co-sponsor and support it. But we need to go with the flow. When we get a Bill number, we will post it ASAP. Then you can call it The Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009, HR ####. If the title changes we will alert you to that, also.
Rule 2: DO NOT WRITE LETTERS! Letters are sent to a lab to be checked for anthrax and explosives. They take 30 days or more to be checked. We don't have that kind of time [...and that is good news!].
Rule 3: FAX, EMAIL and CALL!. Remind them of their promise to support and co-sponsor.
Rule 4: BE POLITE! Remember, you can catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar.
Now, mobilize, and turn up the heat. Do not attempt to call before next Wednesday at 0900 Eastern, but email and fax is now open season. Send those letters via email and fax.
Your target: Achieving the support of your Representative and BOTH Senators for the Agent Orange Act of 2009. Anyone who can gain their Senator's agreement to introduce the bill in the Senate ASAP will earn the Hero of the Year Award. We can't authorize the Medal of Honor or the Navy Cross, but that is a measure of how significant that acheivement would be. Go for it!
We are going to close the current poll at the top right and post 2 brand new ones. Please, when and if you get a response from your Representative and Senator, go to the polls and check the appropriate response.
You have engaged in combat ops before. This time is a little different. Your weapons are your wits, and your gentle assertiveness, the confidence that you have right on your side, and and the focus you place on achieving your goals. You have standing to do this as you are a Veteran of the Vietnam War, be it Marine, Coastie, Merchant Mariner, Airman, Soldier, or Sailor. Stand tall, and be strong.
I will tell you now, that no matter what, I am so proud of all you have done, and all you have been and are now. I thank you for your great service to the nation, and now to its Veterans. You have done much to be proud of, yet we ask a little more at this critical time. We ask, because we know you, and know what you can do. Can do! Welcome Home, Brothers and Sisters. Our time is come.
VNVets
”It is a stain on this nation's honor that the Department of Veterans Affairs has become a deadlier and more difficult adversary to the American veteran than any they have ever faced on a battlefield."-- VNVets
"The concept that Agent Orange, and its effects, stopped dead in its tracks at the shoreline is simply too illogical, and too ludicrous to accept. What does that say about the Bush Administration and his Department of Veterans Affairs?"--VNVets
"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." --President Abraham Lincoln
"It follows than as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious."--President George Washington
Monday, January 19, 2009
The Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009
