Please send me your thought and additional concerns.

www.jimvaughnforcongress.com

My fiancé, Sally Daugherty and I created a staffing service to assist our service members obtain employment. This has been an eye-opening experience filled with heart break stories. It is not uncommon for us to have service members show up at our farm in desperate need of help. They were told by someone to go see Jim and Sally, that they understand and care.

An example that stands out was a young couple that showed up on our doorstep on the 26th of May. The young man and his fiancé had both served in Iraq. They had no money, no food and the rent was due. Like many other service members they were told to come see us. After talking with them about their situation and military experience, we made a few telephone calls. Within an hour, we had the young man scheduled to work the following week as a heavy equipment operator.

A couple of weeks prior, we had butchered several pigs and about a hundred chickens. Before the couple left, we sent them home with pork, chicken and eggs to hold them over until their first pay check. In addition, we gave them a $200 cash advance for gas and other essential items that they would need until their first pay check. Before they left, they told me that when they showed up on our door step they and just enough gas to get to our house and not enough gas or money to get home.

Sally and I are not rich. We are in the process of restoring a farm and an old 1915 farm house and this will take a great deal of time and money. However, we have a roof over our heads and food on the table. We do as much as we can but it is not enough.

Our country created this disaster that has cost thousands of lives and crippled many more thousands. We are spending billions to rebuild Iraq and at the same time shuffling the disabled veterans to the bottom of the deck. Currently, we have over 450 seriously disabled service members at Fort Lewis.

Our experience shows that we have the following categories of Veterans that are in need of assistance:

1. Individuals in the National Guard and Reserves that lost their jobs while deployed. These individuals have families to feed, bills to pay and their only income is derived from weekend drills.

2. Under-employed Veterans. Many returning service members that lost their jobs, out of need and often desperation take positions that are significantly below their education and experience level. As a result, they are experiencing financial hardships and this not improving with the state of our economy.

3. Multiple Tour Veterans. These individuals have had difficulty finding acceptable employment. As a result, they have signed up for another tour in Iraq or Afghanistan. Until they return to active duty, they are in need of temporary employment. They are typically stressed because their unemployment benefits are close to expiring and the bills are piling up.

4. Seriously Disabled Veterans. This is our most challenging category. At the present time we have contacted state and federal agencies in this regard. Our focus is on positions that will allow these individuals to work from home. As our company and this program expand, we will need individuals to contact veterans about open job opportunities. These are positions/tasks that can easily be accomplished from home or a remote location. Our goal is to offer these positions to the seriously disabled veterans. I cannot think of a group of individuals who would have a better understanding the needs of veterans and have a passion for assisting service members.
I understand the issues and challenges that face our Veterans and their families. With current state of our economy and the projected recession, we need to seriously address how we are going to assist our returning Veterans in regards to employment and health care issues. If elected I will do everything possible to see that those that served will receive the support they deserve. Here are some examples:

GI Bill and the Silent Draft. As I mentioned Sally and I have a staffing service that assists veterans obtain full time meaningful employment. We know of numerous service members that have multiple tours because they cannot find adequate employment. We call this the silent draft. Now the GI Bill is in jeopardy because of the Bush administration is trying to keep the Silent Draft alive. How about a full blown draft and all the children of the rich multi-national oil companies, the children of the insurance executives and all the other rich families doing their part? What would happen if we change no child left behind to no child is exempt? Below is an excerpt from the Washington Post that really angers me.

“WASHINGTON — Ever since the G.I.’s came home from World War II, it has been the nation’s policy to reward war veterans with college education. Now, a bipartisan proposal to expand that benefit significantly for today’s veterans has encountered a new complication: the military still needs its fighting men and women in uniform, not in classrooms.

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan far from over, President Bush is threatening to veto a bill that would pay tuition and other expenses at a four-year public university for anyone who has served in the military for at least three years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A main reason is the fear that it would hasten an exodus from the ranks.”

The GI Bill is one of the best programs our country has ever created. GI Bill allowed me to go to college with a wife and infant. I am not sure that I would have been able to go to college without this benefit and I want every veteran to have the same opportunity. As a result, my income level has increased and I pay more taxes year after year after year. The GI Bill pays for itself. This is also critical because our economy needs technically qualified people. Bill Gates and hundreds of other corporations are recruiting overseas because of the lack of available talent in the United States. Since I am in the Executive Recruiting and Staffing Industry, I can attest to the shortage of talent in our country. We must educate our citizens and the GI Bill is one of the best tools available.
First Priority is Veteran's Family Healthcare: Sally and I have a staffing service that is focused on assisting Veterans obtain full time employment. The first service member that I placed had recently returned from Iraq. He was married and had children with special medical needs. Since he was in the National Guard, serving in Iraq he received his basic pay allowance, married housing allowance, separation pay, combat pay and hazardous duty pay. Once he returned to Washington, he was unemployed and the only pay he had was a little over $200 per month for his weekend drills.
This young man had mouths to feed, bills to pay, no medical coverage for his family and needed to go to work immediately. As a result, we placed him with a manufacturing firm in Tacoma. Normally, we place service members on our payroll for the typical 90 day probationary period. At the end of that time, if the service member is a good fit for the company, they are hired on a permanent basis.
During the probationary period, employers typically do not offer medical insurance. The service members are entitled to medical through the VA Hospitals. However, there is no coverage for the family members. I have seen repeated cases where a family member becomes ill or injured and the medical bills devastate the family. This is a serious issue and needs to be immediately rectified.
When I am elected, the first piece of legislation that I submit will be that the family members are entitled to a minimum of one year of medical care from the date the service member was discharged.
My Second Priority which is 2008 Number One Legislative Priority for USDR:
This is one of many instances that I have heard about the benefits for disabled military retirees. Below is an e-mail that I received from a Veteran that has served EIGHT tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Reginald is a subject of this discrimination and it is wrong.

Query:Jim,
We talked about some of the issues with vets. Well one major issue I have is that recently the military has been discharging vet with more than 15 yrs in service with less than 30% for medical discharge, and that leaves the vets without access to military facilities. I feel that if a vet served his country for at less 15-years and is forced to leave the service due to medical reason, he should receive the same privileges as a retiree. The vet should have access to Base and all that the Intel’s.
PX/BX, Medical Facilities, Commissary, ACS, and etc. It is unfair that a career vet is robbed of his entitlements due to a medical condition that did not qualify for 30% medical discharge from active service. That vet should be allotted the opportunity to receive the same benefits or a similar benefit package as a retiree.

The USDR will support legislation to include all disabled military retirees with less than 50% VA disability rating decisions, to include Chapter 61, in the Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payments (CRDP) program beginning in the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
New Deal for Veterans: Given our current national debt and the rising cost of gasoline, we must have effective transportation systems to compete in a global market. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal provided jobs for the unemployed and the Tennessee Valley Authority has been a model for development of Third World Countries. If we created a transportation model, similar to the TVA, the issues of too many agencies would be eliminated. In 1989, Washington State spent $1.4 billion to expand one of the lanes on the I-90 floating bridge. We know that the costs are going to be enormous and how we fund the projects will be a controversial issue.
Most everyone will agree that we need to address our transportation infrastructure. With the current state of our economy and job prospects for our returning service members, a New Deal scenario could provide jobs for our returning Veterans and start the reconstruction of our own country.
Vietnam and Iraq Brotherhood Alliance - Due to our active role in assisting Veterans, Sally Daughtery, my fiancée and business partner, discovered a pattern of behavior amongst service members returning from Iraq.
Scenario: service members come to us for job assistance. Once employed, we often talk to them 2-3 times a week on the telephone. In addition, we see them when they come to the farm for their pay check or when we deliver their weekly pay check to their job site. Since our focus is to assist Veterans in obtaining full time employment, they are on our payroll for the typical 90 day probationary period. After that time, they are hired on permanent basis. However, once they are hired on a full time basis and that connection is broken, many of these individuals crash. Without notice, the veterans fail to show up for work and in some cases disappear altogether. Previously they appeared to have made a successful transition from the military to the civilian sector.
Solution: I believe that we need to connect our Veterans returning from Iraq, with Vietnam Veterans and other Veterans that have served in combat. Specifically, we need model Veterans - Citizens in a functional family that have overcome the adversity of war that are active and successful in the community. At the very least, we need to listen to them and let them educate us. My solution is to create a link between the two generations of Veterans on the lines of the Big Brother concept. Since our Vietnam Veterans have wrestled with similar issues, it could be emotionally rewarding for them to be a sounding board for the young service member that recently returned.
The Veterans Administration is getting beat up on all fronts. Sometimes when the system is overwhelmed it is time to outsource. This is on the same lines as Department of Labor’s Faith Based and Community Initiatives. Let's embrace Veterans from previous wars that are successful and outsource their experience. The mental health community will probably want to guard its turf. However, it is clear from what I see in the trenches that they are beyond their capabilities. My concern is to take care of the Veterans without drawing lines in a political battleground or an agency trying to protect their turf.
I would like to see the Big Brother have direct access to the Veteran's Administration's Case Workers and the Mental Health specialists. The Big Brother would be part of the team. If a service member were having an extremely difficult time and regresses, this scenario might serve to provide an early warning. Hopefully, this would prevent service members from harming themselves or someone in the local community. From an economical stand point, this is not an expensive program to run. If elected, I will present legislation to enact this concept.
Below is a copy from the home page of USDR and they have my vote/full support on every one of these issues.
• The USDR will continue to support legislation to eliminate the 10-year offset for 90% and below under the Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payments (CRDP) program in the 2008 NDAA.
• The USDR will continue to support legislation to eliminate the Survivors Benefit Plan (SBP) and the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) offset in the 2008 NDAA.
• The USDR will continue to support legislation to include all qualified TERA and Chapter 61's in the Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) program in the 2008 NDAA.
• The USDR will continue to support legislation that provides health and dental care for military retirees and their dependents in the 2008 NDAA.
• The USDR will continue to support legislation that provides mandatory funding for the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) in the 2008 NDAA.
• The USDR will support legislation that will increase Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Supplemental Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (RH) from its current $10,000 limit.
• The USDR will support legislation to establish full military burial honors for all military retirees.
• The USDR will continue to support legislation that establishes an Under Secretary of Defense for Retiree Affairs.
• The USDR will support legislation to waive Medicare Part B payments for all military retirees and their dependents/survivors regardless of their age and military date of entry.
• The USDR will work for and support legislation to provide veterans the same legal rights as every other citizen of the United States, by allowing choice for legal representation in the processing of VA claims and appeals.