washingtonscene
Court Rules Against Reservist
Navy Lt. Kevin Ziober, a reservist, brought a case to court after his em- ployer fired him on the same day as his going-away party to wish him well on his deployment to Af- ghanistan. To learn more about the case and its larger impli- cations, visit moaa .org/reservistcase.
will lose some legislators who have been among the strongest supporters of military personnel issues in the past, including: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) retires after 34 years in office. Reid, a long-time champion of providing full concurrent receipt, will be missed. Finding a new Senate sponsor for con- current receipt will be a key MOAA pri- ority in 2017. MOAA’s 2016 Marix Award winner, Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.), who supported a range of pay and health care protections as chair of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, left the House to run for Reid’s Senate seat, but he lost. MOAA’s 2015 Marix Award winner and Senate Armed Services Committee mem- ber Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), who led the successful fight to repeal unfair cuts to military retiree benefits, lost her reelec- tion bid to Maggie Hassan. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), chair of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee (HVAC) and champion of the successful charge to eliminate the Survivor Benefit Plan age-62 offset for military widows a decade ago, is retiring from Congress this year. After a congressional redistricting, Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), chair of the Seapower and Projection Forces Sub- committee, lost in a primary election ear- lier this year. Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) also lost her primary and stepped down as ranking member of the HVAC. Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) leaves the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) to become a senator. HASC members Reps. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.), Gwen Graham (D-Fla.), John Kline (R-Minn.), and Richard Nugent (R-Fla.) all are retiring. We will miss these legislators, as well as
the strong support of their staffs. We thank them for their dedicated service to the men
34 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2017
and women in uniform and wish them the very best in their future endeavors. The number of veterans serving on
Capitol Hill will continue to decline when the 115th Congress convenes. In the House, the percentage of members who served in the uniformed services could slip to less than 17 percent — the lowest level since before World War II. As few as 73 veterans will head to Washington, D.C., in January; a total of 81 representatives — nearly 19 percent — had served in uniform at the start of the 114th Congress.
The number in the Senate increases by
one, to 21 veterans. While the chamber loses a veteran with the departure of Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), it gains Sens. Tammy Duck- worth (D-Ill.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.). The representation of veterans in
Congress has declined steadily since it peaked at 74 percent for the House (1969-70) and 78 percent for the Senate (1977-78).
Some of the decline can be explained by
an inevitable demographic shift. As fewer members of the overall population serve in uniform, so do fewer veterans serve in elected office. However, the number of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans serving in Congress continues to grow, with 26 heading to the Hill in 2017.
That said, just because a legislator is
a veteran doesn’t necessarily mean he or she supports MOAA’s issues. The declin- ing veteran population means we must educate legislators and their staffs on the unique conditions and exceptional sac- rifices inherent in decades of uniformed service that defy comparison with a ci- vilian career. To that end, MOAA works hard to maintain good working relation- ships with legislators and staff members on both sides of the aisle.
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