Tag: arlington
Obama Honors The Fallen At Arlington On Memorial Day

Obama Honors The Fallen At Arlington On Memorial Day

By Connie Stewart, Los Angeles Times

Hours after President Barack Obama returned from a surprise visit to American troops in Afghanistan, he paid tribute to the nation’s fallen defenders on Memorial Day and alluded to the VA health care crisis, pledging to ensure that veterans “get the care … they deserve.”

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki was among those who accompanied Obama to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where the president spoke at the amphitheater and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Shinseki is under fire over allegations that some VA medical facilities falsified documents to hide long waiting lists for care.

Obama noted Monday that he had just returned from Afghanistan and pledged that the nation would always honor veterans, including “the nearly 2,200 American patriots who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan.”

“As we’ve been reminded in recent days,” he said, “we must do more to keep faith with our veterans and their families, and ensure they get the care and benefits and opportunities that they’ve earned and that they deserve.”

The VA has struggled to care for aging World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans as those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan seek care.

Some lawmakers have called for Shinseki’s resignation, but Obama has stood by the retired Army four-star general, at least pending a probe into the allegations.

The VA’s inspector general is investigating 26 medical facilities, including in Phoenix, San Antonio and Fort Collins, Colo.; those findings are expected in August. Shinseki is to present a preliminary report to Obama this week.

At Arlington, Obama noted that this is the cemetery’s 150th anniversary.

“Here, in perfect military order, lie the patriots who won our freedom and saved the Union,” he said. “Here, side by side, lie the privates and the generals who defeated fascism and laid the foundation for an American century. Here lie the Americans who fought through Vietnam, and those who won a long twilight struggle against communism.

“And here, in Section 60, lie men and women who gave their lives to keep our homeland safe over more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Obama said.

“On these hallowed grounds,” he said, “we rededicate ourselves to our sacred obligations to all who wear America’s uniform. … These Americans have done their duty. They ask nothing more than that our country does ours — now and for decades to come.”

Drew Angerer/SIPA/Abaca Press/MCT

Shakedown? Texas Rep. Joe Barton Loses Arlington

It might not be a “$20 billion shakedown,” as Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton once called the agreement between the federal government and British Petroleum to set up a compensation fund for oil spill victims, but the latest Texas redistricting map sure has gotten Rep. Joe Barton upset. Barton represents Texas’s 6th district, which currently includes the city of Arlington. But the new redistricting map, passed by the Texas House yesterday, places Arlington in the 33rd district rather than the 6th.

State Rep. Bill Zedler tried to help Barton by introducing an amendment that would give parts of Arlington, including one of Barton’s residences, back to the 6th district. But most members of the Texas House had little sympathy for Barton. Burt Solomons, chairman of the House Redistricting Committee and chief architect of the plan that upset Barton, argues that he should have worked with the redistricting committee if he was truly concerned that his district was being split.

“This is the epitome of Joe Barton … wanting to have just exactly what he wants without really going through the process as all the other congressmen and everyone else in this process really did,” Solomons said.

Democratic state Reps Marc Veasey and Tom Burnam, not usually on the same side as Solomons, agreed with him that it was outrageous for Barton to demand special treatment, especially after their own amendments in favor of greater minority representation had failed. Zedler’s amendment was easily defeated, and the House passed the redistricting bill soon after. So what can Barton do now?

“I will wait and see if the Texas House and the Texas Senate go to conference to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate maps. If my homes end up in different districts, I will then sit down with my wife and decide where to run.”

In the end, Barton probably has nothing to worry about. As state Senator Ken Seliger, chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, told members of the state Senate who criticized the redistricting plan a few weeks ago:

“It’s going to the courts anyway, senator. The courts have drawn all or part of every map that we’ve had since 1971.” [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]