washingtonscene
House Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R- Calif.), a longtime champion of military pay and health care, had a hand in stop- ping many of DoD’s recent proposals to balance the defense budget on the backs of servicemembers and their families. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) provided leader- ship in securing initiatives to assist wound- ed warriors and their families, expanding eligibility for combat-related special com- pensation and enacting the first step to ease the deduction of VA survivor benefits from military Survivor Benefit Plan annuities. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) was instru- mental in winning legislation to authorize a reduction in the reserve retirement age based on the member’s active duty service. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) was a champion of VA ad- vanced appropriations. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) sponsored an amendment in the FY 2015 defense bill to block increases to TRICARE phar- macy copayments.
Military Experience in Congress
Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) sponsored an amendment in the FY 2015 defense bill to block reductions to servicemembers’ housing allowances. MOAA thanks these legislators, as well
as their staffs, for their dedicated service to the men and women in uniform and wishes them well in all of their future endeavors.
Fewer Veterans T
on the Hill Less than 20 percent have served.
he decline in the total number of veterans serving on the Hill will continue when the 114th Con-
gress takes office this month. In the House, the percentage of members who served in the uniformed services slipped to 18.6 per- cent — the lowest level since before World War II. Only 81 veterans (80 voting repre- sentatives and one nonvoting delegate) re- turn to Washington in January. A total of 87 (20 percent) representatives had served in uniform at the start of the 113th Congress. The number in the Senate will increase slightly to 20 veterans (20 percent), one more than the number that took office at the start of the 113th Congress. Total representation falls from 20 per- cent of legislators to 19 percent. The representation of veterans in Con-
gress has declined steadily since it peaked at 79 percent for the House (1977-78) and 76 percent for the Senate (1983-84). Some of the decline can be explained
Senate House
by an inevitable demographic shift. The 114th Congress could be the first without representation from the “greatest genera- tion” (pending the result of one run-off). However, the number of Operation Endur- ing Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans serving in Congress continues to grow, with 22 on the Hill in 2015.
36 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2015
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