Mike Rogers: Government owes gratitude to veterans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — During the week following Memorial Day, I was honored to host the first meeting of the Third Congressional District Veterans’ Advisory Council in Sylacauga.
Veterans from across East Alabama were in attendance. I am deeply appreciative of their time and dedication to this effort, and am hopeful it will help address many of our Veterans’ concerns.

During the meeting, many offered suggestions on ways the new Council can work to help me develop new practices and policies to better serve the brave men and women who served in uniform.  My hope is to take many of these suggestions and work with the dedicated public servants at the VA to help improve the VA system for everyone.

I am also looking forward to getting feedback from Council members to discuss future legislation that could potentially affect veterans.

All of us in East Alabama are grateful to those who have served or are currently serving our country. As a nation at war, we must also keep those brave Americans in uniform in our hearts and prayers.

Congress must provide them with the best support and equipment needed to ensure victory and help keep them safe.

This week, the conference report on the Defense Supplemental bill could come to the House Floor for a vote.

This final version, if passed, would help provide continued funding for our nation’s military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House passed its version of the supplemental, with my support, on May 14, and included more than $84 billion for war operations for the rest of this fiscal year. I was particularly pleased the bill didn’t include funding to close the terrorist detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay.

As of this writing, House and Senate leaders continue negotiations on the final version of the supplemental. One point of ongoing discussion is the possible inclusion of a provision to provide additional funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

This funding provides a line of credit the U.S. committed to at the G-20 Summit meeting earlier this year. Many folks may not be familiar with the work of the IMF. In short, it is an organization made up of 185 nations that, among other initiatives, works to maintain stability in the global financial system.

On the surface, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea – especially in these turbulent economic times. But those in favor of IMF funding have yet to disclose what the funding will do, and they have not made assurances dangerous countries, like Iran, won’t have access to the funds. I hope this issue is remedied in a bipartisan manner soon so Congress can get on with passing a bill that supports the troops.

Our current military and veterans have sacrificed so much for our country in recent years. Now more than ever the federal government must keep the promises made to them.

Mike Rogers represents Alabama’s Third Congressional District. He can be reached at http://www.house.gov/mike-rogers or follow me at http://www.twitter.com/RepMikeRogersAL.