Jones again goes to bat for vets with resolution, opposition to cuts

Published 5:06 pm Friday, March 22, 2019

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-AL, introduced a bipartisan resolution that would designate April 18, 2019 as “Military Retiree Appreciation Day” to honor the “lifelong service of military retirees,” according to a press release from Jones’ office.

Jones brought forth the same resolution last year, which was passed with unanimous support.

The resolution was led by Jones and his colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, and Ted Cruz, R-TX, and got the backing of 20 other senators.

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The resolution calls on Americans to “honor the past and continued service of the approximately two million retired service members across the United States, including more than 60,000 in Alabama,” the press release stated.

“Our military retirees have sacrificed so much to serve our nation and continue to make important contributions in our communities,” Jones said. “We are grateful to them every day, but it is important to also set aside a special day for the nation to honor and commemorate their service.”

The resolution garnered the support of Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, President and CEO of the Military Officers Association of America.

“It’s comforting to witness this national recognition of our military retirees,” Atkins said. “Recognizing their service and sacrifice is a true heartfelt message that simply says ‘thank you.’”

On Friday, Jones addressed a letter to Department of Defense Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan opposing President Donald Trump’s proposal to cuts of delay funding for military projects, some of which are slated to take place in Alabama, in order to pay for a border wall.

Earlier in the week, Congress received a 20-page list from the Pentagon of military construction projects at risk of being hampered in order to funnel funds into the border wall project that has been a mainstay of Trump’s political agenda.

Among those projects were a $5.2 million plan to build a weapons maintenance shop for the Anniston Army Depot, a $38 million plan for training support at Fort Rucker and two projects at Maxwell Air Force Base – a $15.5 million Judge Advocate General (JAG) school expansion and an $18 million air traffic control tower.

“I will be perfectly clear here: there are no circumstances under which it would be acceptable or appropriate for the Department to source 2,808 projects from funds appropriated from Alabama MILCON (military contracts) projects,” Jones said in the letter. “These projects are critical to the national security and to the state of Alabama and I will oppose every attempt to delay or otherwise negatively impact them in any way.”