Politics and birdhouses

Dude!

A few days ago in response to Molly's post about GI Bill reform, I wrote my Congressmen to ask them to support the resolutions currently in Congress. A couple of days later, I got a phone call (at 6:45 in the morning! Ugh!) from Ander Crenshaw's office, thanking me for my interest. I mumbled some reply, and the guy on the phone continued, " ...And we're going to print your email and personally give it to the Mr. Crenshaw so that he can read it and have it in hand... " I don't know if that's standard procedure for offices of Congressmen, but I thought it was kinda cool.

Then, today, I got this email from Senator Mel Martinez:

Dear Sergeant Booth:

Thank you for letting me know of your support for the 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act (S. 22). I appreciate hearing from you and would like to take this opportunity to respond.As you know, Senator Webb proposed the 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007 on January 4, 2007. This legislation would create a program for educational assistance for members of our Armed Services who have served after September 11, 2001. S. 22 establishes the guidelines for an alternative educational assistance program to the current Montgomery GI Bill, though some service members would still be entitled to the benefits of the GI Bill if they meet specific criteria. Currently, S.22 has been referred to the Veterans' Affairs Committee where it awaits further discussion. Please know that while I do not currently serve on this committee, I will keep your thoughts in mind should this legislation come before the full Senate.

As Americans, we are forever in debt to the members of our armed services, past and present, who put their lives on the line to guarantee our freedom. Without the sacrifices made by our brave men and women in uniform, our nation would lack the freedoms we enjoy today.

Again, thank you for sharing your views with me. Please contact me if you have additional comments or questions. For more information about issues and activities important to Florida, I invite you to sign up for my weekly newsletter at http://martinez.senate.gov/.

Sincerely,

Mel Martinez
United States Senator


If you want to find out more about the resolutions in Congress for GI Bill reform, you can go here. Then you can email your Senator or Representative (or find out who they are) through the House and Senate websites, and urge them to support this legislation, or thank them for their support if they are on the Senate or the House list of cosponsors.

Seriously, a lot of kids join the military to receive GI Bill benefits, only to discover that sometimes it's not as good a deal as it seemed. There's been a ton of talk about support for the troops in the last few years... This is a practical way to tell them you care about them--not just for the time they are serving, but for their future as well.

Today's other news: I backed two 53's out of the wash rack today, with minimal assistance for one and none for the other! Take that, Dad and your fifth wheel! My plane is 100' long and 80' wide! And I have the footage to prove it!

Also, it turns out that I don't have the world's coolest ringers on my phone, after all. Don't get me wrong, my ringers are awesome, but "Birdhouse in Your Soul" blows my stuff out of the water. Honestly, how did I not think of TMBG for my phone?

Home tomorrow!