Does anyone have a copy of Kerry's letter about military housing?

According to Orange County Republicans, he is trying to get into the reuse of the former Marine base at El Toro. He'd better stay out of this. After 10 years and four ballot measures, supported by Bush ambassador to Spain and a major GOP money man George Argyros, the grass roots movement won. There will not be an airport at El Toro and the reuse plan calls for open space and some development to pay the navy for the land.

There are not that many vets in Orange County in need of housing, and those of San Diego will not drive 60-80 miles. New houses are being built at Camp Pendleton.

This is a fight where many influential republicans and congressmen like Issa and Cunningham were on one side, while a grass roots movement - spanning the political spectrum - was on the other. If Kerry is putting himself on the side of Issa, Cunningham and Argyros he is making a big mistake. He'd better study the topic, first.

January 22, 2004

The Honorable Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1000

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:

On October 21, 2003, I wrote to you requesting information about reports that military personnel at Fort Stewart, Georgia, were housed in sub-standard facilities while awaiting medical care in a back-logged Army medical system. Last week I received a response from Acting-Army Secretary R. L. Brownlee. A copy of Secretary Brownlee’s letter is attached for your review, but among other things he notes:

The rapid call-up of Reserve Component Soldiers to support the Nation’s tactical and strategic missions resulted in an unanticipated back-log of Soldiers in a medical hold status at major installations throughout the Army. . . . Our medical infrastructure has been augmented through increased use of medical support units, case managers, contract civilian medical support, and alternate Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities .

Last week, the Associated Press reported that more than 2,500 soldiers continue to wait for healthcare at a time when the largest rotation of U.S. forces in recent history is already underway and likely to lengthen the lists of service members on medical hold or needing post-deployment medical care.

Secretary Brownlee’s correspondence and the continuing rotation of U.S. forces out of Iraq raise several important questions:

• How many soldiers have been treated outside of the DOD healthcare system? • How many soldiers have been treated by “contract civilian support?” • How many soldiers have been treated in VA medical facilities?

I remain gravely concerned that these reports of continued delays for care by American soldiers, despite efforts identified by Secretary Brownlee, reflect a DOD hospital system that is under-staffed and under-prepared. The GAO identified serious shortcomings in the Department’s pre-deployment health screenings last autumn. I am concerned that the delays in care identified here reflect serious problems in the overall vitality of the DOD healthcare system.

There is nothing more important than the care and well-being of our troops. They have earned this care and we must not fail them. I hope that you will give your personal attention to this issue of basic welfare for our troops. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry

---------------------------------

January 22, 2004

The Honorable Anthony J. Principi Department of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Avenue Washington, DC 20420

Dear Secretary Principi:

On October 21, 2003, I wrote to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld regarding reports of poor living-conditions and back-logged medical care for military personnel at Fort Stewart, Georgia. I received a reply recently from Acting-Army Secretary R. L. Brownlee. A copy of his letter is attached, but in it he refers to Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities:

The rapid call-up of Reserve Component Soldiers to support the Nation’s tactical and strategic missions resulted in an unanticipated back-log of Soldiers in a medical hold status at major installations throughout the Army. . . . Our medical infrastructure has been augmented through increased use of medical support units, case managers, contract civilian medical support, and alternate Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities .

Less than a year after you took the drastic action of excluding veterans from the VA healthcare system, nearly two years after you suspended outreach activities to others, and while tens-of-thousands of veterans wait for care in the VA system, I am gravely concerned that the dearth of capacity in the Defense Department’s healthcare system and the VA’s traditional role in supporting DOD’s medical mission may impinge further on the ability of the VA to meet its mission to care for all of America’s veterans.

Secretary Brownlee’s correspondence raises the following questions:

• How have VA medical facilities been used by the DOD? • How many DOD patients has the VA treated? • What metrics has the VA developed to measure the affect this use is having on its ability to care for other veterans? • What do these metrics indicate about impact on the VA’s core missions? • How much will it cost the VA to provide these services to DOD? • What mechanisms are in place for the VA to recoup these costs from DOD? • What budgetary impact do you expect this mission will have on VA healthcare in the current fiscal year as well as FY05?

Every American who returns from Iraq, Afghanistan, or any deployment deserves the best care this country can provide. But we must not care for one generation of veterans at the expense of another. I am very concerned about the capacity of the Defense Department’s healthcare system to meet the demands of the current conflict. But I am equally concerned that the VA may be asked to further stretch its limited resources, further complicating a bad situation. Please give your personal attention to this issue of basic welfare for our troops and our veterans. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry
___________________________________________________________________


KERRY CALLS ON RUMSFELD TO ADDRESS MISTREATMENT OF WOUNDED TROOPS AT FORT STEWART, GEORGIA


Poor living conditions and back-logged medical care for military personnel at Ft. Stewart “raises serious concerns about the current stewardship of the American military,” says Kerry

Tuesday, October 21, 2003


WASHINGTON, DC – Senator John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) today called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to give his personal attention to the treatment of wounded troops at Fort Stewart, Georgia. According to news accounts, more than 600 sick and wounded veterans of the U.S. war in Iraq are waiting for medical care at Fort Stewart. While they wait, they are being held in training barracks that lack basic accommodations.

“While I am heartened by reports today that additional medical personnel will soon be assigned to care for the reservists waiting for care at Fort Stewart, I am worried that these delays would arise in the first place,” stated Kerry in a letter sent today to Secretary Rumsfeld.

“The men and women of the American military deserve our highest respect. They have kept their commitment to this country in the face of enemy fire. We owe them the same loyalty when they return home and need our care. The failure to meet this obligation for the men and women at Fort Stewart raises serious concerns about the current stewardship of the American military.”

In his letter, Kerry called on Rumsfeld to give his personal attention to “this issue of basic welfare for our troops,” and demanded responses to the following questions:

§ What specific actions are being taken to remedy this situation? § How did this back-log happen in the first place? § What changes are being instituted to make sure this doesn’t happen again? § Does this indicate that the capacity of DOD hospitals is over-burdened with casualties from Iraq?

The full text of Kerry’s letter to Rumsfeld follows.

-- 30 --

October 21, 2003

The Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1000

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:

I am greatly concerned about reports of poor living-conditions and back-logged medical care for military personnel at Fort Stewart, Georgia. While I am heartened by reports today that additional medical personnel will soon be assigned to care for the reservists waiting for treatment at Fort Stewart, I am worried that these delays would arise in the first place.

According to reports by CNN, UPI, and the New York Times, more than 600 sick and wounded veterans of the U.S. war in Iraq are waiting for medical care at Fort Stewart, Georgia. While they wait, they are being held in training barracks that lack basic accommodations. The UPI reporter who broke this story claims to have seen a document indicating that there are no available doctor’s appointments until November 11, 2003.

§ What specific actions are being taken to remedy this situation? § How did this back-log happen in the first place? § What changes are being instituted to make sure this doesn’t happen again? § Does this indicate that the capacity of DOD hospitals is over-burdened with casualties from Iraq?

The men and women of the American military deserve our highest respect. They have kept their commitment to this country in the face of enemy fire. We owe them the same loyalty when they return home and need our care. The failure to meet this obligation for the men and women at Fort Stewart raises serious concerns about the current stewardship of the American military.

Please give your personal attention to this issue of basic welfare for our troops. I look forward to you reply.

Sincerely,


John F. Kerry

October 8, 2003
_________________________________________________________________

President George W Bush
The White House
Washington, DC

Mr. President,

One month ago you went before the American people to ask for their support for your request for another $87 billion for Iraq. In your speech you praised our brave soldiers in the field and said "we honor the sacrifices of their families." I take those words seriously – “Our first commander in chief, George Washington said that “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”

America’s veterans understand that appreciation of those who wear the uniform does not just come in the form of parades or words of thanks – it comes in the form of promises kept. The reservists you will speak to in New Hampshire on Thursday need more than words to honor their service, they need action. It’s simply wrong that so many members of Londonderry’s 368th Combat Engineers Battalion, stationed in Kuwait, were made to believe that they would be coming home for leave only to have their families disappointed after repeated assurances, or to have dozens of members of the battalion spend their own money on expensive plane tickets because they were told there would not be room on the military's planes to bring them home. Twenty percent of our Reservists and their families don’t have adequate health care coverage and repeated actions by Congress have put their pay at risk. We’re told we simply can’t afford to pay our troops all they have earned, but I know you’d agree that if we can’t afford to pay our soldiers in harm’s way and support the families they left behind, then we have bigger problems than a budget out of balance. It means we have our values out of whack.

This is a moment for shared sacrifice. That is why I am writing to ask you to take advantage of a unique opportunity tonight. When you speak to your sold-out reelection fundraiser, I believe you can show real leadership by asking your wealthy contributors to sacrifice as much as the families of the guard and reserve. I hope you will consider asking your wealthy contributors to sacrifice a fraction of their tax cut so we can stop short changing our reservists, veterans and military families – and so we don’t go deeper into the red to pay the costs of post-war Iraq without shortchanging priorities at home like education and healthcare and homeland security. I believe wealthy Americans understand we can’t have it all – and they would not want their tax cut to come at the expense of our brave men and women on the frontlines. If you reach out to your contributors tonight, then on Thursday when you speak to the National Guard and our reservists you can go before them and tell them that you have asked others to sacrifice a fraction of what they have, that you have asked the most comfortable among us to sacrifice so military families can have affordable healthcare and a decent school to educate their children.

I believe this – more than any speech or words of encouragement – would honor our troops, and would keep faith with the values we share as Americans.

John Kerry
__________________________________________________________________

We are weaker today militarily than we should be, but this Administration stubbornly refuses to admit it. Soldiers in Iraq are paying the price everyday because our forces are spread too thin. There simply aren't enough of them to provide a prudent reserve of active-duty troops to respond if they have to in other hotspots. More than 180,000 members of the National Guard and Reserves are on active duty. Stop-loss programs have kept more than 30,000 troops in the ranks after their enlistments expired. If I am President, I will instruct my Secretary of Defense to conduct a long-range review of the nation's military force structure. And until that review is completed, I will not appoint a Base Closure Commission.

We should not begin that work until we are clear that we are not wasting resources on excess bases, and until we know what our future needs will be at home and around the world.

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0317.html
____________________________________________________________________

Kerry Calls for Halt to Work of Base-Closing Panel


March 13, 2004

New York Times
By Jodi Wilgoren

Boston, MA —


Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, called Friday for a halt to the work of the Bush administration's commission on closing military bases, saying it "is driven more by ideology than by careful planning."


"There's a terrible disconnect between the stated goals of the base closure process and the realities we face today in managing our force structure and providing for our troops," Mr. Kerry said in a written statement, pointing to the administration's stated goals of closing 25 percent of the current bases, while also expanding the Army by 30,000 personnel and bringing home some troops that are based in Europe. "We need to conduct a long-range review of the nation's military force structure needs that is honest about the challenges we face."

The statement was issued in response to a query from The Portsmouth Herald of New Hampshire, which was surveying New England members of Congress about the fate of its local naval shipyard, whose 5,000 service members have been on edge since 2001, when another round of base closings was announced.

Mr. Kerry, of Massachusetts, voted in September 2001 to support the Bush administration's plan to close more bases in 2005, but his spokesman, David Wade, said that with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, "it's a different world" now.

Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for President Bush's re-election campaign, would not respond to Mr. Kerry's criticisms that the base-closing process had become politically driven and out of touch with current needs, saying they were "lacking any type of specifics."

"This is another example of John Kerry playing politics with a national security issue," Mr. Schmidt said, pointing to Mr. Kerry's vote for the Iraq war but against the $87 billion to finance reconstruction. "John Kerry has a long record of voting in favor of base closings."

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/clips/news_2004_0313b.html

from the past two days that allegedly talks specifically about Southern California, about San Diego and Orange Counties.