Pilot in errant bombing refuses hearing [Archive]

ALLEN L. WELLS

06-27-2003, 02:32 PM

Quote[/b] ]This is a matter of honor

http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/soldier.gif NPWJ - I AGREE. *THERE SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF CONFUSION ABOUT WHO DID WHAT REGARDING THIS INCIDENT. *I THINK THE RESULTS OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING IS A FOREGONE CONCLUSION WITH ALL THE POLITICAL PRESSURE ON THIS ISSUE. *I THINK HE HAS BEEN MADE TO BE THE FALL GUY IN THIS INCIDENT. *THE POWERS THAT BE ARE LOOKING FOR A WAY TO MAKE THIS GO AWAY. *MAJOR SCHMIDT ISN'T HAVING ANY OF THIS. *HE HAS AN IMPRESSIVE MILITARY BACKGROUND. *ANYBODY WHO WAS AN INSTRUCTOR AT THE NAVY'S TOP GUN FIGHTER PILOT SCHOOL HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST.

http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad1.gif THE DOWN SIDE OF THIS DECISION IS THAT MAJOR SCHMIDT IS SUBJECTING HIMSELF TO THE POSSIBILITY OF MUCH GREATER CONSEQUENCES. *HOWEVER, THERE IS A DOWN SIDE FOR THE U.S. AIR FORCE (USAF) IN THIS ISSUE ALSO. *IT MEANS THAT ALL OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES REGARDING THIS ISSUE WILL BECOME PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE. *FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD SOME OF THIS INFORMATION WILL NOT REFLECT TO WELL ON THE USAF.

http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/ghostface.gif IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT A LOSS OF LIFE RESULTED IN THIS INCIDENT. *THIS IS JUST ONE OF THE FORTUNES OF WAR. *I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS INTENTIONAL ACT ON THE PART OF MAJOR SCHMIDT WHO DID NOT HAVE ALL OF THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN REGARD TO THIS OPERATION. *THERE APPEARS TO BE OTHERS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THIS INCIDENT. *TO BLAME THIS ENTIRE INCIDENT ON HIM IS UNFAIR. *I THINK HE MAY FAIR BETTER BEING JUDGED BY A GROUP OF HIS PEERS RATHER THAN BY A SINGLE SENIOR OFFICER. *REMEMBER ALL OF THE U.S. ARMED FORCES PILOTS ARE WATCHING THIS ISSUE VERY CLOSELY.

http://gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/salute1.gif THANK YOU MAJOR SCHMIDT FOR NOT TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT. *YOUR STAND ON THIS ISSUE EFFECTS THE REST OF THE MILITARY PILOTS IN OUR ARMED FORCES.

jonessa2

06-27-2003, 05:23 PM

<span style='color:green'>I receive the Veteran alerts. *It imortant that civilians see just what their tax-payer dollar is paying for, and decide what is whoo-rah, and what isn't. Compare it to your company benefits and retirement benefits.</span>

Eight Bills Clear Committee in Busy Markup
Session
New Benefits for Veterans and Surviving Widows:
New VA Hospitals and
National Cemeteries To Be Built

(Washington) - Comprehensive legislation (H.R. 2297) to expand and extend benefits to veterans and their surviving spouses cleared the House Committeeon Veterans' Affairs in a markup session today. *The Committee also approved
legislation (H.R. 1720) to authorize $1.1 billion in new VA health care construction projects, legislation (H.R. 1516) to
open five new national
cemeteries for veterans and their families, and
five other bills (H.R.116, H.R. 2357, H.R. 2433, H.R. 2595, H.Con.Res. 159) to assist and honor America's veterans.

"The package of bills approved today will make a tangible difference in the lives of millions of veterans and their
families," said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ), Chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. *"The new investments in health care facilities and national cemeteries authorized
today are long overdue and much needed," he said.

Smith, who sponsored H.R. 2297, the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, highlighted several provisions of that bill, including one for widows of veterans who want to remarry. *"This legislation
would correct an injustice for our Gold Star Wives, those who lost their husbands through service to our nation. *This provision, which Rep. Michael Bilirakis of Florida has
championed for years, would finally allow surviving spouses of veterans to be able to remarry after age 55 without being
penalized with the loss of widow benefits, such as widow's pension or burial rights," said Smith.

H.R. 2297, as amended, would also:
. * Expand the Montgomery GI Bill program for self-employment training programs;
· *Make permanent the State Cemetery Grants Program;
· *Reinstate a VA pilot program to provide vocational training to newly eligible VA nonservice-connected pension recipients;
· * Increase the specially adapted automobile grant from $9,000 to $11,000;
· * *Increase the specially adapted housing grant from $48,000 to $50,000 for the most severely disabled veterans
and from $9,350 to $10,000 for other severely disabled veterans;
· * Add cirrhosis of the liver as a presumed service-connected
disability for former POWs;
· * *Eliminate the requirement that a POW be held for 30 days or moreto qualify for presumptions of service-connection
for several specific disabilities;
· * *Expand benefits eligibility to those children with spina bifida
born to Vietnam-era veterans who served in Korea near the demilitarized zone between October 1, 1967 and May 7, 1975;
· * *Make the VA home loan program for members of the Selected Reserve permanent;
· *Adjust the funding fee charged to Selected Reserve home loan applications to the same amount as that paid by active duty servicemembers;
· * *Reinstate the Department of Veterans Affairs' vendee loan
program;
· ** Mandate that the Department of Labor place staff in veterans' assistance offices at overseas military installations 90 days after date ofenactment; and
· * Extend certain compensation and burial benefits to certain Philippine WWII-era veterans residing in the U.S.

Smith praised Veterans Health Subcommittee Chairman Rob Simmons (CT) and Benefits Subcommittee Chairman Henry Brown (SC) for their "the hard work and dedication of their respective Subcommittees in bringing forth such comprehensive packages of bills to expand benefits and improve the delivery of services to veterans."

"Chairman Simmons' bill to invest in VA's health care infrastructure, H.R. 1720, is absolutely vital to properly maintaining the VA health care system," said Smith. *As amended and approved by the Committee, H.R. 1720, the Veterans Health Care Facilities Capital Improvement Act, would authorize $1.1 billion over two years for major medical facility construction projects to improve, renovate, replace, update or establish VA patient care facilities, including:
· *$98 million for an inpatient tower at West Side Division in
Chicago;
·* $48 million for seismic corrections in San Diego;
· *$50 million to renovate inpatient wards and research facilities in West Haven, Connecticut;
· *$90 million for a new medical facility in Columbus, Ohio;
· *$45 million for a joint VA-DOD clinic in Pensacola, Florida;
· * $3 million for a lease of an outpatient clinic in Charlotte,
North Carolina; and
· * $6.5 million for a lease of an outpatient clinic and benefits
office in Clark County, Nevada.

In addition, H.R. 1720 would require the Secretary to develop a specific plan for meeting the future inpatient hospitalization needs of veterans who live in southern New Jersey and certain counties in the state of Texas, as well as consider a joint VA-Navy medical facility proposal in Charleston,
South Carolina. *The Committee also approved H.R. 116, to authorize a newmajor medical facility - possibly a joint venture with the Air Force - at the site of the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center on the University of
Colorado campus at Aurora. *H.R. 116, sponsored by Rep. Joel Hefley of Colorado, authorizes $300 million for this project.

H.R. 1516, the National Cemetery Expansion Act of
2003, sponsored by Rep.Jim Gerlach (PA), and as amended by the Committee, directs VA to establish five new national cemeteries in the following areas: southeastern Pennsylvania; Birmingham, Alabama; Jacksonville, Florida; Bakersfield,
California; and Greenville/Columbia, South Carolina. *This legislation would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to
submit a report to Congress within 120 days of enactment setting forth the five areas where those cemeteries will be established, a schedule for establishment, the estimated
cost associated with establishment, and the amount of Advance Planning Funds obligated for this purpose. *The bill would also
require the committee to submit to Congress an annual report that updates the information included in the initial report until the five cemeteries are completed.

During the Committee's markup session, the following bills were
also approved:
· H.R. 2357 would expand VA health care services by requiring the appointment of chiropractors. *Although VA has previously been directed to develop chiropractic care programs, to date they have failed to appoint a single chiropractor. *H.R. 2357 also extends health care services to Filipino WWII veterans residing in the United States.

· *H.R. 2433, sponsored by Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (TX), would
authorize VA to provide prioritized health care to veterans were who participated in Project 112/Project SHAD tests. *
These tests, which involved exposure to chemical and biological toxins or simulants, were conducted by
the Department of Defense at their Deseret Test
Center from 1962 through 1973. *In the past year, the Department of Defense has released information about these secret Cold War-era tests and has worked with VA to identify and notify those veterans who participated in the
tests, most of them unknowingly. *H.R. 2433 will ensure that those veterans who did participate in these tests are able to receive medical evaluation, and if necessary, treatment at VA health care facilities. *H.R. 2433 also authorizes premium
pay for Saturday duty to health care workers with direct patient-care responsibilities.
· * *H.R. 2595, sponsored by Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Lane Evans (IL), would restore the operation of the
Native American Veteran Housing Loan Program during fiscal year 2003 to the scope of that program as in effect on September 30, 2002. *In June, the Department of Veterans
Affairs stopped making loans under the Native American Direct Loan Program because of a $5 million limitation contained in
the 2003 Appropriations Act, resulting in a number of new home construction projects being stopped. *H.R. 2595 will allow both new home construction, as well as refinancing to resume for Native American veterans at the levels
authorized in prior years.
· * H. Con. Res. 159, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Moran (KS), declares Emporia, Kansas, to be the founding city of the
Veterans Day holiday, and recognizes the contributions of Alvin J. King and the Honorable Ed Rees for their role in the enactment into law of the national observance of Veterans
Day on November 11 of each year.

All eight bills approved by the Committee will be reported to the full House of Representatives for further consideration and
possible floor action in July.