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Dear Neighbor,
Last week, I offered two amendments to the
Military Construction, Veteran and Related Agencies (MilCon/VA)
Appropriations bill, both of which passed the House unanimously by
voice vote.
POE Amendment No. 4 “None of the funds made
available by this Act may be used to hire a new director of a national
cemetery who is not a veteran.”
POE Amendment No.
5 “None of the
funds made available by this Act may be used to prohibit a veterans
service organization that is participating in a funeral or memorial
service of a veteran from reciting any words as part of such service or
memorial.”
The amendments would protect veterans and their First
Amendment rights in light of the censorship of religion and speech that
occurred at Houston VA Cemetery last summer when veterans were
prohibited from using the word “God” in their prayers and Bibles
were removed from the chapel. I am pleased
that my colleagues in the House agree that what happened at the
Houston VA Cemetery must never happen again. When I first learned from the VFW last summer that the VA was censoring
free speech and preventing the free exercise of religion at the
National Cemetery in Houston, I didn’t want to believe it. But, it was
true. No American should be denied their constitutional rights of
speech and religion, especially not our veterans who fought and died for
those very freedoms.
Former Houston VA Cemetery Director Arlene Ocasio’s poor
judgment reflects that she not only disregards constitutional liberties,
but she does not respect the needs of veterans. Only those who have
served and really understand the needs of veterans should be allowed to
oversee veteran’s cemeteries. My
amendments will ensure that veterans receive the respect they
deserve. And that's just the way it
is.
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