Press Release Source: Office of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones



Rep. Tubbs Jones Co-Sponsors Resolution Supporting U.S. Troops

Friday March 21, 10:33 am ET



WASHINGTON, March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones signed on as a co-sponsor of H. Con. Res. 103, "Expressing the sense of Congress concerning support to members of the United States Armed Forces and allied military forces engaged in the war on terrorism and the war with Iraq."

Congresswoman Tubbs Jones opposed H. Con. Res. 104 because provisions in that resolution sought to establish that Iraq posed a continuing threat to the United States and that Iraq was specifically associated with the terrorism of September 11th. The case that Iraq posed an imminent threat and the case that Iraq participated in the events of 9/11 have not been proven, and the lack of that evidence was the primary reason that our U.N. resolution could not achieve even a simple majority in the U.N. Security Council, with several of our traditional allies among those in opposition to the resolution.

Rep. Tubbs Jones also demonstrated her support of the troops by voting for budgets and amendments that would have restored cuts to veterans' benefits contained in the Republican budget. In response to the Republican budget, a coalition of veterans' groups including Paralyzed Veterans of America and Veterans of Foreign Wars, called the cuts in VA mandatory programs "... unconscionable. We do not consider payments to wartime-disabled veterans, pensions to the poorest disabled veterans, burial benefits and G.I. bill benefits for soldiers returning from Afghanistan to be 'fraud, waste and abuse.'" The Disabled American Veterans wrote to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert "to communicate our deep-seated outrage regarding the fiscal year 2004 budget adopted by the House Budget Committee, which would cut veterans programs by more than $15 billion during the next 10 years. Has Congress no shame? Is there no honor left in the hallowed halls of our government that you choose to dishonor the sacrifices of our nation's heroes and rob our programs -- health care and disability compensation -- to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy? You will be reducing benefits and services for disabled veterans at a time when thousands of our service members are in harm's way ..."

"Our veterans deserve better than lip service," said Rep. Tubbs Jones.