Chet Edwards For Congress

CQ TODAY: With Edwards as Chairman, VA Funding Sees an Increase

CQ Politics
June 15, 2009 | By Matthew M. Johnson, CQ Staff

Since taking the helm of the House Appropriations panel responsible for military construction and veterans’ issues, Chet Edwards has applied his center-right political philosophy to deliver the two largest budgets in history for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Texas Democrat says the $17.7 billion increase in total funding provided to the VA since his tenure began in 2007 amounts to more money than the combined total provided by the GOP-controlled Congress in the previous 12 years.

As a result of his work on the panel, both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, two of the nation’s largest and most influential veterans’ service organizations, honored Edwards with their highest awards in 2008.

B-CS Eagle: Reserve unit may get new home

By MATTHEW WATKINS
Bryan-College Station Eagle

Thursday, June 25, 2009

The home of the 420th Engineer Brigade of the U.S. Army Reserve is falling apart.

Built in 1958, the building on Carson Street in Bryan has foundation problems, cracked floors and damaged walls and ceilings. It also violates modern federal "force protection" requirements because it is too close to the street.

"The current Moore Memorial Center was constructed nearly half a century ago, to support a very different force than we have today," said Col. James Doty, commander of the 420th Engineer Brigade. "It is, quite frankly, beyond its useful life and wholly inadequate to serve as an Army Reserve headquarters."

A piece of legislation may provide the unit with a new headquarters that works, he said.

U.S Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, announced Wednesday that he had included $12.2 million in the 2010 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill to pay for a new headquarters for the unit.

The American Legion Vision | May 28, 2008

A Promise Fulfilled

Rep. Chet Edwards is living up to the legacy of the man known in Washington as "Mr. Veteran."

Texas Democrat Chet Edwards may never have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, but his 18 years in Congress have been shaped by those who did.

Until his district map was redrawn in 2003, U.S. Rep. Edwards counted among his constituents the massive Fort Hood Army community and a strong population of military retirees and veterans who make central Texas their home. He no longer has Fort Hood, but he does represent in Congress Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush's hometown of Crawford, and has fought diligently to keep the Waco VA Medical Center from closing.

On the national level, however, is where Edwards has made his biggest impact on the lives of veterans. He received The American Legion's 2008 Distinguished Public Service Award after shepherding the largest one-year funding increase in the history of VA – $11.8 billion – while serving on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. "Chet went above and beyond in keeping us informed and telling the truth," American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser said when presenting the award in early April.

"To be a politician accused of telling the truth – what a special thing," Edwards quipped in response .

The award, he said, "was an honor I will always cherish. I know the real heroes are our nation's veterans. I am simply fighting to provide the funding and services that our veterans have already earned through their service and sacrifice to our country."

Reserve Center may be replaced

By MATTHEW WATKINS | Bryan-College Station Eagle | Eagle Staff Writer | May 24, 2008

Edwards:"Members of the 420th Engineering Brigade need facilities that effectively train and equip them to carry out their national security responsibilities. This funding is an important first step that will pave the way for a new Army Reserve Center for the 420th Engineering Brigade."

A spending bill that's making its way through Congress is set to give area soldiers a long-awaited Memorial Day gift.

The National Defense Authorization Act for 2009 has been earmarked to include $920,000 to hire architects and planners to design a new Army Reserve Center in Brazos County, according to U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.

It will replace a building that is home to the 420th Engineering Brigade, a reserve unit that "commands and controls assigned engineer assets," according to the brigade's Web site. The brigade has 22 subordinate units and more than 2,500 reserve soldiers.