Heller Ignores Calls to Upgrade G.I. Benefits

What does a former Iraq War combat medic have to say about Nevada Congressman Dean Heller (R-NV2) and his lack of support for the New G.I. Bill?

Patrick Campbell: “Heller? The phone line goes silent as he consults the spreadsheet. “I sent him e-mail this very morning.” The note to Nevada Republican Rep. Dean Heller suggests that “his chance to sign on to the GI Bill was running out,” Campbell says.“I feel like I’m the conductor on the train saying, ‘All aboard! History in the making.’ This is going to be the most important piece of legislation this Congress is going to pass.” [LV Sun]

Some days it’s difficult to figure out just who Congressman Heller’s constituents might be. They certainly aren’t working and middle income families who could have been assisted by the passage of the SCHIP legislation. The Congressman refused to support that bill even when the specific issues he raised were addressed in the final version of the legislation. He continued to assert (without any evidence whatsoever) that the bill would benefit “illegal aliens.”

Those constituents definitely aren’t veterans of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. If they were the Congressman would, like his colleague Jon Porter (R-NV3), have signed on as a co-sponsor of the New G.I. Bill. However, the 2^nd District Representative’s disinterest in this bill must owe something to his ties to the Bush Administration and its willingness to fund raise for his campaigns – why else would he not answer the e-mails from Iraq and Afghanistan vets?

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