Candidate: Veterans deserve health care

Published May 6th, 2008 in Asbury Park Press
By: Kirk Moore

Declaring that full government funding of benefits and medical care is a requirement of the nation's "love and respect" for military veterans, 3rd District congressional candidate, state Sen. John H. Adler, D-Camden, made his appeal to the sizable military and veterans' vote in Burlington and
Ocean counties.

"Our nation is about security and freedom, but freedom isn't free," Adler told about 50 veterans and other supporters at Mill Creek Park here Monday. "It also requires that sacrifices be shared by the American people."

Adler, who is seeking the seat of retiring Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., promised to support Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va. and help pass the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act if elected. That legislation - bills S-22 in the Senate and HR-5740 in the House - would expand educational benefits for returning servicemen and women to levels not seen since the GI ill-funded boom in college enrollments after World War II.

Veterans and military personnel account for one of the largest groups of voters in the 3rd District. In Burlington County, Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base account for many active-duty personnel and their families, while Ocean County has the largest percentage of veterans among New Jersey's 21 counties.

Adler announced he is forming a committee of veterans to help his campaign. The June 3 Republican primary will determine whether Adler will go up in the general election against Chris Myers, who is the mayor of Medford, or John P. Kelly, an Ocean County freeholder.

The first to say he's joining Adler's campaign was retired Brig. Gen. Preston M. Taylor Jr., a former New Jersey National Guard deputy adjutant general.

"We as taxpayers are going to be faced with a humongous bill to take care of these veterans," said Taylor, citing the 30,000 wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We have to do something about what's going on. We need a congressman in Washington who understands what's going on."

Taylor, who was with the New Jersey guard when it deployed during the Persian Gulf War, drew a sharp distinction between that repulse of Iraqi forces from Kuwait and the Bush administration's policy since 2003.

The invasion of Kuwait "was a true military violation. . . . That was a war of necessity. The current war is a war of choice, and not necessity," he said.

"I got to know John Adler back in those days when he was on the base at McGuire, and he's been going there since" during major deployments, Taylor said. "He's concerned about the rights and benefits of veterans, and I've been impressed with his desire to go to work for us."

Taylor recalled a rebellion four years ago in the then-Republican-controlled House of Representatives over funding for the Veterans Administration, when veterans' ally Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J., was removed as chairman of the veterans' committee by the GOP leadership.

"We need to have serious oversight," Taylor said. "The people who run the VA need to be called up to the Hill to explain these programs."