U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez recently voted with every Democrat against a bill to fully fund the Veterans Administration, making it clear that she is comfortable with denying wounded U.S. Military veterans and the children of those killed in the service of our nation without compensation or medical care.
When we send our troops off to war, the American people promise that we will take care of them and their families if they are wounded or killed. Marie and every Democrat broke that sacred promise. She claimed the bill did not include enough funding, but it allocated $10 billion more than the Biden Administration requested for VA spending. Marie previously stated she supported fully funding the VA, but that was a lie.
Adding insult to injury, Marie has continued to vote to keep our troops involved in endless wars overseas. Earlier this year, she voted against removing U.S. Armed Forces from Syria, and later a U.S. Military helicopter crashed in Syria and 22 service members were injured.
Marie’s voting record is clear: She is willing to send our troops off to fight and die but is not willing to compensate our troops for the cost of the wars she votes for but has never served in.
Marie also voted against repealing Biden’s pistol brace ban, a policy that affects thousands of disabled veterans who rely on stabilizing pistol braces. Marie wants to brand disabled veterans felons for simply owning a pistol brace.
This is hypocrisy at its most outrageous: Marie votes to deprive veterans of medical care and access to firearms while voting to keep them involved in wars overseas.
Marie routinely claims I do not know what it is like to “work for a living.” I enlisted in the U.S. military at age 18 and served over 20 years in Special Forces and deployed to combat in the Middle East 11 times for our nation. Marie’s life experience is limited to attending Reed College, an elite liberal private university that costs $60 thousand in tuition per year and masquerading in her husband’s coveralls.
She is not working for the interests of the people in her district — she is working for her donors. Marie takes corporate PAC money routed through other PACs. She is co-chair of the Blue Dog coalition, and the Blue Dog PAC accepts contributions from defense contractors like Raytheon Technologies.
Marie is working for special interests and D.C. elites, not the thousands of veterans in her district who rely on the VA for healthcare. I support fully funding the VA, expanding access to Tricare, and strengthening Congressional oversight of the VA system. As someone who receives my healthcare from the VA and Tricare, I understand the importance of ensuring our nation’s veterans have access to quality healthcare.
Joe Kent
Yacolt
Editor’s note: The Chronicle allows political candidates to publish one letter to the editor per election cycle. The author of this letter is seeking a position as U.S. representative for the Third Congressional District in the 2023 election.
