Veterans in Congress push for better benefits for military children
Two military veterans serving in Congress said in an interview that aired Sunday that they are pushing to expand health-care benefits for the children of veterans.
Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation" in a joint pre-Memorial Day interview, Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) said their shared history of military service informed their efforts to get coverage expanded for children up to the age of 26. The legislation would cover dependents of current military families, as well as those who are retired.
"We’ve been working together with this caucus of bipartisan military veterans to apply pressure, because, if we don’t apply that pressure, if we don’t shine the spotlight on this problem, it will get sort of stuck in the dysfunction of the Congress right now," Ryan said, referencing the For Country Caucus in Congress.
Ryan added: "It's hundreds of thousands of military service members and their families right now in this country that don’t have the same health care coverage as other Americans. That is outrageous."
Waltz said they expect the legislation will, at some point, be passed: "I do think eventually we will get this through. Legislating is a little bit like, I don't know, like football, sometimes. You run up the middle and it's three yards and a cloud of dust. But I do think we'll get it through."
The For Country Caucus is led by Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.). Waltz is a former Green Beret, Ryan a former military intelligence officer in the Army.
Speaking near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, Waltz and Ryan discussed other related issues with host Margaret Brennan, saying that because such a small percentage of Americans are now serving in the military, many Americans don't recognize what military families need.
"In terms of the divide between 99 percent of Americans who aren’t serving and the 1 percent, that is deeply problematic as a democracy," Ryan said.
Ryan also said he didn't think the government and the country as a whole were doing enough to address suicide by veterans. "It needs to be a problem that every American recognizes as theirs," he said.
"The whole country has to come into Memorial Day weekend," said the New York Democrat, "and, yes, you can celebrate, but please take a moment and think about the names on this wall, the names on your local hometown memorial, the names on the memorial bracelets of the veterans that you see."
Waltz said one of the things that he and Ryan and other veterans in Congress had in common was "survivor's guilt," wondering why they made it back alive while others did not.
"I look in the mirror every time — every morning before I go into the Capitol and tell myself to be worthy, you know, be worthy of that sacrifice," Waltz said, "and our charge I think as leaders, as elected leaders is to comport ourselves in a way that's worthy of their sacrifice."
