Veterans
*** Important Please Read and Forward to Friends ***
You have probably seen Kosmas' dishonest television ad misleading Veterans and Central Florida voters. Her ad repeatedly cites Tom's 2007 vote on HR 2642 which he immediately corrected in the Congressional Record. Yesterday, we sent letters to the General Managers of each TV station and cable system asking them to pull the ad.
The Kosmas campaign cherry-picked votes that include Bush's bloated budgets and procedural votes. While Tom's votes against Bush's bloated budgets are consistent with his fight to eliminate wasteful spending, they are certainly not representative of Tom's fight for Veterans funding that includes the Central Florida VA Hospital and Concurrent Receipt to name a few.
* Kosmas is knowingly deceiving veterans and Central Florida voters about Tom's veterans record
* Tom Feeney led the fight for the Orlando VA Hospital - a top priority for him since he was elected to Congress. Tom fought and secured federal funds for this critical hospital to bring the resources to service this ever growing population to Central Florida.
* Yesterday, we celebrated the new VA Hospital Land Purchase. Clearly, while political smears are coming at him from the other side, Tom Feeney is focused on working for his district and America and continues to be a leader and achieve results.
* Tom Feeney cosponsored the GI Bill update to increase education benefits for our men and women who have served this country so selflessly.
* Tom Feeney is a cosponsor of the Concurrent Receipt legislation ensuring that those who have been disabled in the line of duty are not penalized by losing other benefits.
* Tom Feeney has been vocal in his effort to protect delivery of military ballots
* Tom Feeney signed the Disabled American Veterans Pledge
* Tom Feeney SUPPORTS the Fair Benefits for Guard and Reserve Act
Front Page:
FLORIDA TODAY
Feeney 'outraged' over Kosmas TV ad
BY JOHN MCCARTHY FLORIDA TODAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2008
Read it HERE
TOM FEENEY FIGHTS FOR VETERANS' NEEDS
Proven Advocate for Central Florida's Growing Veterans Population
ORLANDO VA HOSPITAL - Feeney's Successful Fight to Secure Funding
o Tom Feeney's top priority in Congress. Fought and secured federal funds for this critical hospital to bring the resources to service this ever growing population to Central Florida.
o Just last week, Congress approved the 2009 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill which included funds for the Orlando VA Hospital.
o Great news that the funding has been bumped up and is now at $220 million for 2009! Earlier this year, I sent letters out to leadership, the appropriators and the VA to urge them not to play politics with the funding.
o I will continue fighting for the remaining funds to be included in the future budgets. These funds will ensure that the hospital project takes a significant step towards completion.
o I will work with the new administration next year to continue funding.
o The latest estimates by the Department of Veterans Affairs show the total cost to completion for the Lake Nona Veterans Hospital at $656 million. It is vital that the remaining funds are appropriated as soon as possible.
GI BILL - Feeney Votes to Update and Increase Benefits
o Feeney cosponsored the GI Bill update to increase education benefits for our men and women who have served this country so selflessly. The Pentagon has estimated a 117% increase over the current GI Bill allowance totaling approximately $2,400 a month. This would go a long way in helping our nation's brave men and women get the tools necessary to excel once they return home.
CONCURRENT RECEIPT - Feeney Co-Sponsors
o Feeney supports the Retired Pay Restoration Act that addresses Concurrent Receipt to fix the unfair practice of forcing disabled veterans to choose between retirement pay and disability compensation.
MILITARY VOTING - Feeney protects delivery of military ballots
o Feeney cosponsored the Military Voting Protection (MVP) Act of 2008 to provide for the expedited collection and delivery of overseas uniformed service-member ballots by establishing procedures to ensure that such ballots are delivered to state election officials by the local jurisdiction's deadline, while safeguarding voter privacy and ballot security.
FEENEY SUPPORTS the Fair Benefits for Guard and Reserve Act
o Feeney fights to provide educational benefits to service members who served on active duty for 20 months. This reflects the time spent on active duty rather than the wording of orders.
HOMELESS VETERANS - Feeney works to relive hardships
o Feeney works to help get homeless veterans off the streets and into rental housing through an amendment that dedicates the monies in HUD's Affordable Housing Fund to homeless veterans housing.