A Message on the Take Care of America's Veterans Act

VFW National Commander Carol Whitmore and staff respond to today’s postponed House vote on TCAVA. We stopped Congress from taking a dangerous step today. No matter how people try to spin it, Congress shouldn’t open Pandora’s Box on arbitrarily reducing disability ratings. It’s never been done before. We’re not about to let it start. I know there are provisions in this bill that everyone wants to get done. Major Richard Star Act needs to pass. But it needs to pass CLEAN. And it certainly cannot be passed by taking away from future veterans!!! TCAVA Vote ResponseFor survivors, who wanted this to be the path to fix your injustices, the fight is not over! But again, fixing these problems cannot come at the expense of those currently in harm’s way. To our troops serving overseas right now. We heard you LOUD AND CLEAR! You told the VFW to keep fighting for YOU. I hope you can see that we are fighting and will continue to stand up for our warfighters. To the members of the VFW: Thank you. You showed up when it mattered most. The VFW was threatened and coerced to try to support a dangerous policy that would harm our community. YOU said NO! YOU sent more than 60,000 messages to Congress in just a couple weeks; YOU met with your legislators face-to-face; and most importantly: YOU came to Washington, D.C., on a moment’s notice – from more than 30 states!!! To tell Congress DO NOT CUT FUTURE BENEFITS! There have been a lot of distractions in our work to protect veterans’ benefits. VFW was accused of “inciting violence” over our Honor the Contract imagery. A sitting member of Congress threatened our accredited service officer program for speaking out on behalf of the veterans we serve!!!! In all my years with the VFW, I had never seen politicians stoop so low – but I said it then and I say it again: The VFW has never apologized for forcefully defending veterans and we are not about to start now.” But while benefits are safe today, this will continue to be a fight, like we saw in 1933, in 1956, in the early 1980s, and even today. Someone wants to cut veterans’ benefits. Washington Post; Economist – and apparently some in Congress. We will not let that happen, and we know that this bill is going to come back again in a few short weeks. So let’s keep it up. Let’s not let off the momentum!!!! Like Smedley Butler said: “Be able to argue intelligently; know what you’re talking about … make every public office seeker state where he stands. Don’t take any alibi.” To veterans who are new to this fight, I hope you will join our ranks. I hope you will help us! To our peer veterans’ groups. We know how you really feel about the cuts in this bill. We have read your shared concerns on Section 108 on reducing veterans’ ratings as a piggy bank. It’s clear now that veterans don’t want this. It’s clear this isn’t the “only” way. So let’s harness our power and let’s fix it together!!! Again, thank you to the service members, veterans, and families from across America who made YOUR voices heard. Advocacy works. You have a voice. And we are proud to stand with you.