Sometimes in life we need to know something to feel something and feel something to know something. Even though I spent 11 years in special forces units and seen combat, I was never shot, but have several friends that were. Yes, they told me how bad it felt, but I will never know the pain. Although I have driven 33-foot special operations boat many times that was powered by 880 horsepower, I will never know the power of a 640hp 2024 Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica on the road. Most of the time, if not all the time, to understand what a military servicemember needs, you must have worn the uniform of the nation at some point of your life.
On March 3, 2022, Congresswoman Lesko voted against HR 3967, better known as the Honoring Our Pact Act of 2022. Let’s look at what this bill covered. This bill extended VA health care benefits to service members who served in 8 different countries during the Gulf War of 1990 and to service members who have served in 16 different countries during the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars. This bill granted health care benefits that covered 25 different cancers and diseases that our service members were exposed to from the toxins of burn pits. This bill also extended health care benefits to Vietnam War veterans who served in 8 different countries and on certain types of aircraft. This bill extended health care benefits to our veterans who were potentially exposed to 8 different cancers and 11 different other diseases caused by exposure of Agent Orange and other herbicides.
What is peculiar about Lesko’s no vote on the bill was this. The House of Representatives took 6 votes on this bill between 4:26 pm on March 2, 2022, and 11:02am on March 3. 2022. On the first vote at 4:26pm on March 2, 2022, Lesko voted no. However, she voted yes on the 4 following amendments to the bill over the next couple hours that day and up until around 10:36am on March 3, but voted no on the final vote in the House just 26 minutes later at 11:02am. When you vote yes on an amendment, that means you are satisfied with the change, and it meets your standards. SO why did Lesko ultimately vote no on a bill that met all her expectations? I don’t know, but I do have a couple theories.
Theory 1: Congresswoman Debbie Lesko has never served in our nation’s uniform, so she doesn’t know what an increase of health care benefits means to some veterans.
Theory 2: She didn’t see the importance of this bill and decided she could help hold it hostage. This bill was sponsored by a House democrat from California and co-sponsored by 100 other House members, only 3 of them being Republican. So, did Lesko and 174 of her fellow House members, including Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, who voted yes on 3 of the 4 amendments to the bill, hold the bill hostage? Did they vote no to the bill so that the Joe Biden administration wouldn’t earn a huge win with what the VA has called “perhaps the largest health care and benefit expansion in its history?” If they did, they played and jeopardized with our health care and potentially with our lives, literally, and that is a major no-go for me.
Speaking about Congressman Biggs, there is a YouTube video of him and another House member who I have a ton of respect for, Congressman Mark Green from Tennessee, discussing why they voted no on this bill. Congressman Green is a highly decorated Army Major, Army Ranger who
interrogated Saddam Hussein for several hours after his capture. In the video, Con. Green spoke about being diagnosed with 2 forms of primary cancers at the same time. Having zero precursors, zero genetic markups, and having no history of other family members with these types of cancers, he and the VA determined it must have been caused by his time spent around burn pits in combat areas. He talked about how he and his soldiers had to run on treadmills in a gym next to a burn pit because they couldn’t run around the perimeter of the base. Guess what Mr. Green, guess who else spent time in special forces, and spent months sleeping, eating, working, and working out right next to burn pits? This guy. Another thing that Mr. Green said in the video got me fired up. He said that he didn’t like the fact that the bill would have given health care benefits to service members who served in one of the countries but nor near burn pits. What he said here was that someone who was diagnosed with any of the 25 cancers or diseases from burn pit toxins doesn’t deserve benefits if they weren’t in a burn pit area. Dust storms are a very common thing in Iraq, depending on the time of year. Would it be possible that someone could be exposed to burn pit toxins who never served within a 25-mile radius of the burn pits themselves? I would think so. Even with genetic markups or history of family members of any of the diseases, the same situation Mr. Green himself was in, wasn’t good enough for anyone else but Mr. Green. Shame on you sir, but you sound like a hypocrite. You spent 20 years in the Army and retired as an Army Major, meaning that you spent many years in leadership roles. If you ever served in the military, you had at least one supervisor say go to medical and get that cut on your finger checked out and get it documented in your medical record. You have a headache, go to medical and get it documented. You are about to get out of the military or retire, go to medical and make sure your medical record is up to date so you get everything from the VA that you deserve, etc., but sorry, you don’t qualify in this scenario.
Getting back to the race for Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in district 4 and why I will not be supporting Lesko for the seat. Instead, my vote and support are going to Dr. Robert Branch, a U.S. Air Force veteran. For the veterans of the west valley, Dr. Branch understands veterans and our needs because he is a veteran as well. I know Lesko helps with veterans in our area, but it is when they call her for help with the VA. It is not her nature to take care of the veterans because she doesn’t fully understand the needs of veterans.
On most Saturdays over Veteran’s Day weekend, Dr. Branch puts on a cookout in the park next to his house. But this isn’t your typical cookout. Bob packs about 400 pounds of meat into his very large smoker and for those of us who like to smoke our own meat, we know how expensive 400 pounds of meat is. Bob also provides side dishes and the eating utensils, buns, and drinks. He invites his community as well as veterans in the area and he has never asked for any donations for himself. In fact, the donations that are given to him, he gives to the military or veterans organization from Luke Air Force Base that he is hosting. Do you remember the concert at the Ak-Chin Pavilion on November 6, 2021, that featured Big and Rich, Aaron Lewis of Staind, Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry and our very own Ashley Wineland? That was a concert to honor our veterans over Veteran’s Day, and Bob Branch organized the event, and he donated several hundred tickets to our veterans. Bob was also at the forefront of the hiring veterans imitative with Maricopa County and lowering the costs of admission to our county parks for veterans.
Dr. Bob Branch understands what it means to be a veteran, he understands what veterans mean to our great nation, he understands that America wouldn’t exist without veterans, and he understands that if we don’t take care of our veteran’s today, there will be no one signing up to be a veteran in the future. To the veterans of the west valley, there is only one choice for Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in this race that will and always has put us first, and without question, and that choice is Dr. Robert Branch. I ask you to stand with me to support and vote for him for our next county supervisor in district 4.
