America's veterans fought for our rights, so Congressman Ted Strickland

says he will continue fighting for theirs.

U.S. Representative Strickland, D-6th, met with local veterans Tuesday at the Lawrence County Courthouse to talk about the national issues that affect veterans' lives.

"I want veterans to start speaking out and letting people like me and others in political office know that they are tired of being treated in a shabby way," Strickland said.

More than 30 veterans and members of local organizations attended including the Lawrence County Chapter 765 of the Military Order of the Purple Hearts, the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 51, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8850 and the Ironton AMVETS Post 5293.

Congressman Strickland said he has long fought for veteran's services. He

focused on three current problems -

the VA's agenda to limit access to health care,

the concurrent benefits system and the need for mandatory funding. He also outlined what Congress is doing to address these issues.

The VA has limited the access to health care services by stopping outreach activities, suspending enrollment of veterans who did not suffer combat-related injuries, doubling prescription co-payments from $7 to $15 and imposing a $250 enrollment fee, he said.

"In January, when we were getting ready to send people to war, the President sent us a budget that cut the Veteran's Administration budget by $25 billion," he said.

Strickland said he is in the process of developing a lawsuit against the VA for not promoting their services.

Stephen Saunders, commander of the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 51, said there are many more issue facing veterans than just these three and that veterans just want what was promised to them.

"Veterans have been fighting for 25 years, with no success, for disability claims," he said. "This is how our ancestors, the Native Americans, had their land stolen, by broken regulations."

Strickland blasted the practice of concurrent receipts that forces military retirees to surrender a portion of their pension if they receive disability compensation. No other branch of the government is treated this way, but Congress would have abolished this practice if the President hadn't said he would veto the bill, Strickland told the veterans.

Dallas Crabtree, 76, of Proctorville served in three wars - World War II, Vietnam and Korea. His military pension is $1,000 a month, but because the VA has increased the amount of disability payments, he has continued to lose more and more of his pension under this system.

"Ever since I retired in 1967, they have been nipping at it. I would say I have lost $50,000 over the years," Crabtree said. "Why send all that money overseas and then let our own people suffer?"

Another key issue Strickland said he will continue fighting for is mandatory funding. Under the current system, the VA can never plan ahead because it must always wait to see how much funding Congress will appropriate each year, Strickland said.

With mandatory funding, the VA would have some stability. If Congress supplied an additional $1.8 billion many of the problems with VA health care system could be fixed, he said.

Though this sounds like a lot money, the U.S. government spent $15 billion to help the airline industry and $82 billion to rebuild Iraq, so "in the big picture it is not that much," Strickland said.

Congress has introduced three separate bills that address these flaws in the President's budget and the current VA system, Strickland said.

"If we can take care of everyone else on this earth, why can't we take care of our veterans right here at home?" he asked.

Ronald McFann, Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, still questions the sincerity of Strickland and other politicians because most make broken promises just to get elected, he said.

"Bush is trying to take everything away from the veterans," McFann said. "How much more can we pay?"

Strickland agrees that many politicians do spout political rhetoric, but said the proof comes on the voting floor.

"Do not pay attention to what any of us say, watch what we do," he said. "Check my record; watch how I vote."