Since I saw the film When I came home about an Iraq war veteran who was living out of his car when he came back to Brooklyn and the veterans group IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) that helped him (and also heard Paul Rieckhoff speak about IAVA), I've been on the IAVA email list. They are not straight out against the war like IVAW (Iraq Veterans against the War) or Veterans for Peace, who've been around since the Vietnam War. But they are doing some savvy lobbying and have come up with a report card for this election, ranking politicians on how they are doing on their issues, namely, are they helping veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and are they helping military families? If you're looking at a particular incumbent the list of votes is useful. The overall report card for the NJ delegation comes up this way:
Senate: Lautenberg B+ Menendez B
House:
Garrett C-
Saxton C
Payne C
Frelinghuysen C+
Ferguson B-
LoBiondo B-
Smith B
Pallone B
Holt B
Rothman B+
Andrews A-
Pascrell A-
Their description of the criteria are below, but every vote they looked at is also on the website for each incumbent. If anyone has any comments on which votes they looked at, in particular, and the outcome, in general, I'd be interested.
To calculate the Ratings, IAVA reviewed all legislation voted on in the Congress since September 11, 2001. For each piece of legislation that affected troops, veterans or military families, IAVA took a position either in support of, or in opposition to its passage...
A total of 169 House votes and 155 Senate votes were used to determine the ratings. You can view all of this legislation, either in a complete list or grouped by session, by clicking here.
IAVA is a non-partisan, non-profit organization. |
