America’s military strength is the indispensable foundation of our
nation’s freedom and economic prosperity. Alarmingly, the deterrent
underpinning of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is
beginning to deteriorate.
Our nation’s slim, trim, post-Cold War military is leaner than it
ought to be. The armed forces in Fiscal Year 1998 recruited more than
186,000 recruits, about 8,000 shy of the Department of Defense “goal” of
192,000. DOD’s FY ’98 goal was lower than the 197,000 men and women
recruited in FY ’97, a reflection of a downsized active-duty force of
about 1.35 million. Recruiting projections for the current fiscal year
are even more dismal.
The armed forces cannot match the financial inducements of private
sector careers available to young people, particularly in today’s strong
economy. As a veterans advocate, I believe there is another dimension of
recent recruiting shortfalls: whether veterans and today’s active duty
troops are apt to recommend military service to others.
On Sept. 28, in my first Capitol Hill appearance as national
commander of the 2.8-million member American Legion, I offered Congress
one solution to this precarious trend. I urged a joint session of the
House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees to bestow well-deserved
benefits to military veterans and quality-of-life improvements to those
in uniform today.
Our nation must not depend upon hard economic times to make many more
young people consider becoming citizen-soldiers.
Congress must stock the armed forces with vital ammunition for the
Pentagon’s war on attrition: Pay raises and enlistment bonuses, for
instance, make salaries somewhat more competitive with those of the
private sector. It is illogical to expect young people to choose the
military as a career option when an estimated 12,000 troops are on
public assistance.
Ultimately, however, the treatment of veterans by their Uncle Sam
transmits an important message to young people considering military
service — especially young people who have veterans in their families.
Today’s young adults hear from relatives who wait weeks to be seen by a
VA doctor. They read news accounts about mysterious Gulf War illnesses
affecting people not much older than they are, and how many of the sick
believe government could do more. They know veterans groups lobby hard
for health care and other benefits that, frankly, Congress should
provide without prodding.
Consider these questions: Do military retirees receive lifetime
access to quality health care? Is the Department of Veterans Affairs
health care system accessible to all veterans and their families? If a
veteran suffers from an illness that appears to have originated
in-service, will the federal government process his or her claim in a
timely and efficient manner? Recent high school and college graduates,
with any of America’s 25 million veterans in their families, know that
the answers are “No,” “No” and “Maybe.”
Is it any wonder that it is difficult for the armed forces to find a
few good men and women? Access to precious health care, for oneself and
one’s family, is an inducement to do anything, including raise one’s
right hand and take the oath of military service. After Congress
implements The American Legion G.I. Bill of Health, every veteran and
his or her family will have access to health care from the Department of
Veterans Affairs health care system.
The plan will allow veterans and their families either to use their
own third-party coverage to pay for treatment in a VA hospital or to
select a VA-approved plan of co-payments and deductibles. Military
retirees on Tricare and elderly veterans on Medicare will receive the VA
health care they deserve. The additional third-party funding will reduce
— but not eliminate — the system’s dependency on taxpayer funding.
Under the plan, those who currently use the VA health care system will
continue to have unfettered access.
While Congress studies the G.I. Bill of Health, an increase in VA
funding is a short-term solution to taking care of those who took care
of our freedom.
I applaud the House for appropriating an additional $1.7 billion to
the administration’s paltry VA health care recommendation for Fiscal
Year 2000. I also applaud those in the Senate who support roughly the
same funding increase. Additional funding will help the system keep pace
with medical inflation and acquire staff to re-open beds for extended
care.
Indeed, the overall VA budget, capped by the Balanced Budget Act of
1997, must be increased to pay for more adjudicators to expedite claims
processing, among other improvements.
Our nation must take better care of its patriots and our troops
because it is the right thing to do. Our nation must take better care of
these American heroes also because dwindling numbers of young people are
willing to sacrifice for freedom in the tradition of these
citizen-soldiers.
Liberty dwells where tyranny is repelled. Although the Guard,
Reserves and, if necessary, a Selective Service System are reservoirs of
reinforcements, our nation must not entrust our freedom to depleted
armed forces — not with “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” at
stake.
American Legion National Commander Al Lance is the attorney
general of Idaho. The American Legion is the
nation’s largest veterans organization.
