[WardFive] DNC Veterans and Military Families Council votes statehood resolution for DC

http://fortbragg.patch.com/articles/inside-the-veteran-and-military-family-caucus-at-the-dnc

 

Inside the Veteran & Military Family Caucus at the DNC

Members of the DNC Veterans & Military Families Council gathered to garner more support and encourage others to help spread the news about what has been done right over the past four years.

·         By Kelly Twedell

After a decade of war, President Obama and his administration are committed to upholding their covenant with America's Veterans, Wounded Warriors and their families. “We are going to win the majority of the Veteran vote this year,” said Don Fowler, the Co-Chair of the DNC Veterans & Military Families Council. Fowler, a Veteran from S.C., brought the crowd to a roar as he lauded the group of nearly 300 in attendance for making it the largest meeting yet for the council.

The Chair of the Democratic Party, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz praised the efforts of President Barak Obama and the administration. “Barak Obama recognized the unique challenges that came out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, like post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury were made a priority, and we made sure that we can take care of those Veterans so that they can not just survive, but thrive when they come back after serving us in any corner of this country," said Shultz.

Shultz also spoke about last week's RNC in Tampa, rehashing how Romney did not one time mention the word Veteran or war during his acceptance speech. "I was astonished and incredibly disappointed that there was no acknowledgement for our fighting men and women in Afghanistan, that are still fighting for our country and all that we care about in American," said Schultz. "How can that be? Since 1952 every presidential candidate has mentioned that, but Mitt Romney did not feel that was important enough." Talking about what has been accomplished under the Obama administration, Schultz mentioned her pride in the first lady and Dr. Jill Biden with their Joining Forces Initiative and then applauded the president for instituting tax credits to hire our Veterans and bring the war to an end, bringing the troops home.

Fayetteville physician, Dr. Eric Mansfield has been attending the caucuses and events with other locals and looks forward to learning more about what is being done this week.  Rob Diamond, a retired Naval Captain who served in Iraq and he is the current Natl. Director of Veterans & Military Families Council for Obama and the State Director for New York, talked about the president's record and the war coming to an end.

"This is the first time, in a very long time,whereas as Democrats we have a President running for a re-election with a record to be incredibly proud of," said Diamond. “ He talked about keeping his promise and bringing the troops home from Iraq - 142,000 troops on the ground the day he took office, today we have zero (in Iraq).That’s what change looks like.” According to the council, there are 538 self-identified Veterans and family members at the 2012 DNC attending the caucus events, nightly speeches and private concerts and parties.

One noteworthy resolution adopted at this DNC Veterans and Military Families Council is to support statehood for the District of Columbia.