Alaska’s Military Families Deserve More Than A Photo-Op With Senator Stevens

Alaska Democratic Party Release | August 4, 2008

Stevens Joins President Bush In Fairbanks At Eielson Air Force Base Today After Voting Against Military Funding Last Week

Anchorage, Alaska – After voting against the National Defense Authorization Bill late Thursday night, U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) today attended a photo-op with President George W. Bush at the Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks. Stevens helped block legislation last week that included a pay raise for servicemembers and improvements in healthcare for troops and their families. [Vote 195, 7/31/08] Alaska has more than 23,000 members of the active duty military and nearly 29,000 members of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve who would have benefited from this bill. [FY 2007]

“Alaska’s military families deserve more from Senator Stevens than a photo-op with the President,” said Bethany Lesser, spokeswoman for the Alaska Democratic Party. “Just last week, Stevens voted against funding for our troops. The brave men and women of the military put their lives on the line to protect us and keep our families safe, and we can never do enough to repay them for their service. Thursday, Stevens voted against equipment. He voted against a pay raise. He voted against healthcare for servicemembers and their families. This vote is inexcusable.”

The National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2009 included provisions which would have:

Authorized a 3.9 percent across-the-board pay raise for military personnel. [Senate Armed Services Committee Press Release, 5/1/08]

Authorized $26.1 billion for the Defense Health Program, which includes $1.2 billion to reverse the Bush administration’s proposal to raise fees on troops and their families.[Senate Armed Services Committee Press Release, 5/1/08]

Authorized $3 billion in funding to protect troops in Iraq and Afghanistan from improvised explosive devices (IED).[Senate Armed Services Committee Press Release 5/1/08]

· Authorized active-duty end strengths for the Army and Marine Corps to increase by 7,000 soldiers and 5,000 marines from 2008 levels and an increase of 3,371 full-time personnel for the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve. [Senate Armed Services Committee Press Release, 5/1/08]

· Required the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to continue the operations of the Senior Oversight Committee to oversee implementation of Wounded Warrior initiatives.[Senate Armed Services Committee Press Release, 5/1/08]

· Fully funded Army readiness and depot maintenance programs to ensure that forces preparing to deploy are trained and their equipment is ready.[Senate Armed Services Committee Press Release, 5/1/08]

On July 30, Stevens was indicted on seven felony counts related to accepting illegal gifts valued at more than $250,000 from VECO. The same day as the vote on the National Defense Authorization Bill, Stevens was arraigned in federal court. As a result of the indictment, Stevens was forced to resign his seniority on committees, including ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. Last week, the Alaska Democratic Party called on Stevens to step down from his Senate seat, retire, and focus on his legal issues.

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