Chet Edwards For Congress - Ft. Hood

Editorial: Edwards' help still needed at VA

Kat — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:33:05 -0700

August 21, 2007

Editorial: Edwards' help still needed at VA

Waco Tribune Herald
By Editorial Staff

If anyone deserves a tribute for working to save the Waco Veterans Affairs Medical Center it is U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards.

He will get it Wednesday when the city hosts a reception in his honor.

But it needs to be more than a tribute. It needs to be a pep rally. As much as Edwards and other allies have done to preserve the hospital, much needs to be done to enhance services and utilize an under-used campus.

In June, a similar reception was held to recognize U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for her decisive efforts in saving the hospital.

In her campaign to save the VA campus, Hutchison made several important visits to Waco, especially when she accompanied both the VA secretaries on tours of the facility.

She also sponsored legislation to designate the hospital a “mental health center of excellence.”

But no one was as diligent about this task as Edwards. His hands-on efforts helped blunt the proposal to move all of Waco’s mental health treatment programs, blind rehabilitation treatment and geriatric care units to the Olin E. Teague Veterans Medical Center in Temple and to farm its services elsewhere around the country.

The Waco VA hospital has specialized in treating the mental health problems of veterans for more than 70 years. Over that period an invaluable network of mental health services developed both on the VA campus and in the Waco community.

Edwards worked with community groups while also securing more funding for the VA hospital in Congress.

He was instrumental in securing a joint research project into post-traumatic stress disorder between Fort Hood and the Waco VA hospital.

Although VA Secretary Jim Nicholson finally announced late last year that the Waco VA facility would not be closed, challenges still remain that could again jeopardize the facility.

One of the reasons cited in the original decision to close the hospital was the number of empty buildings and their associated maintenance costs.

Edwards has warned that the fight to preserve the hospital must continue.

A promising plan has been proposed to utilize some of the empty buildings for transitional housing for the homeless, especially veterans.

VA officials have promised to consider the idea.

Besides that program, Edwards’ help is needed as the VA implements plans to expand mental health services nationwide during a time of warfare, bloodshed and psychological wounds on two fronts.

A Strong National Defense & the War on Terrorism

Kat — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 19:00:49 -0700

Supporting a Strong National Defense & the War on Terrorism:

Chet Edwards is a leader in Congress on national defense issues. As co-chairman of the bipartisan House Army Caucus, Chet has been a strong voice for supporting our men and women in uniform and seeing that they have the resources to fight the war on terror and defend our homeland.

Chet is the Ranking Member of the Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees $136 billion in annual spending.

Chet is a strong supporter of the war on terrorism and has worked hard to see that our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe have the equipment and tools they need to do their jobs.

Chet led the effort to stop the Department of Defense from cutting two divisions of the Army - some 40,000 active-duty troops - in 2001.

Chet received the 2003 “Legislator of the Year” Award from the Association of the United States Army for his work on behalf of the Army and military families.

Chet led the fight to create a new, innovative public-private partnership to build new housing for military families, a program the Bush Administration has called “the most important military housing program in American history.”

As the Congressman for Fort Hood for 14 years, Chet successfully secured $1 billion in military construction funds for the post, dramatically improving the quality of life for Army soldiers and their families. Chet has continued to work for Fort Hood soldiers and their families, obtaining $ 13.4 million in the last two years for key construction projects, even though the post is now in another congressional district.

Chet served as co-chairman of the bipartisan House/Senate National Security Caucus, which has over 270 members.

Chet has fought for our soldiers when both Democratic and Republican administrations have tried to cut housing allowances, retiree pay, education for military children and danger pay for troops in Iraq.

Edwards: Full Utilization Of Fort Hood

Kat — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 22:39:50 -0700

July 11, 2005
Edwards Calls For Full Utilization of Fort Hood

KWTX Channel 10
By News Staff

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, who represented Fort Hood until Congressional Districts were redrawn in 2003, urged Base Realignment and Closure Commission members Monday to “consider the common-sense approach of fully utilizing Ft. Hood,” as a regional hearing on the future of Texas military installations got underway Monday in San Antonio.

“The Department of Defense's BRAC analysis ranked Ft. Hood as having the Army's third highest military value,” Edwards said.

“Given that high rating, I hope this Commission would consider one fundamental question: ‘Wouldn't it make more sense to fully utilize the Army's only two-division installation, Ft. Hood, rather than downsizing it by 7000 soldiers, thus requiring hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent at Ft. Carson to build new facilities already at Ft. Hood?’”

The Department of Defense wants to move thousands of soldiers from Fort Hood to Fort Carson, after assigning 5,000 troops to the post last year as part of the effort to shift from a division-driven to a brigade-based force structure.

In anticipation of the growth, Gov. Rick Perry authorized $20.5 million for infrastructure improvements around the post.

But under the Pentagon’s recommendations, Fort Hood would be home base to about 41,000 troops, 8,000 to 9,000 fewer than the 50,000 the post can accommodate.

The Pentagon’s plans for Fort Hood are based on 2003 troop strength estimates and did not take the 5,000 new troops into account, Edwards says.

The plans also overlook the opening of 39,000 acres for training, lawmakers say.

The Pentagon says Texas would gain more than 6,100 military and civilian jobs under the plan to close and realign 180 military bases nationwide, but after scrutinizing the proposal, some Texas officials are arguing at the hearing in San Antonio that the plan actually would cost the state at least 3,000 military jobs and scores more in civilian jobs.

Under some scenarios the loss of troops could be as much as 5,000, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, told commissioners Monday.

The hearing drew U.S. senators and congressmen from Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Gov. Rick Perry also attended.

Hundreds of people from the Texarkana-area alone showed up to argue to save their Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition plant.

They argued the statistics on which the Pentagon relied for recommending their closures are outdated.
They say Red River is doing much of the repair work on Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles damaged in the Iraq war.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, concurred, saying the data the commission was working with "bear no relationship to what's going on on the ground at Red River today."

PENTAGON RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEXAS BASES CLOSING:

Brooks City Base, San Antonio (2,923 jobs; 1,297 military, 1,268 civilian, 358 contractor).
Red River Army Depot, Texarkana (2,500 jobs; 9 military, 2,491 civilian).
Naval Station, Ingleside (2,218 jobs; 1,901 military; 260 civilian).
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Antonio (335 jobs; 32 military, 303 civilian).
Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, Texarkana (149 jobs; 2 military, 18 civilian, 129 contractor).
Army National Guard Reserve Center (Hondo Pass), El Paso (106 military jobs).
Army National Guard Reserve Center, New Braunfels (106 military jobs).
Army National Guard Reserve Center No. 2, Dallas (90 military jobs).
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Ellington (59 jobs; 14 military, 45 civilian).
Army National Guard Reserve Center, California Crossing (47 military jobs).
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Marshall (16 jobs; 15 military, 1 civilian).
Army National Guard Reserve Center, Lufkin (10 military jobs).
Navy Reserve Center, Lubbock (7 military jobs).
Navy Reserve Center, Orange (11 military jobs).
Army Reserve Center No. 2, Houston (2 military jobs).

GAINS:

Fort Bliss, El Paso (11,501 jobs; 11,354 military, 147 civilian).
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio (9,364 jobs; 7,648 military, 1,624 civilian, 92 contractor).
Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene (374 jobs; 310 military, 64 civilian).
Carswell ARS, Naval Station Fort Worth (112 jobs; 8 military, 104 civilian).
Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio (182 jobs, 102 military, 80 civilian).
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth (314 jobs; 276 military, 36 civilian, 2 contractor).
Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio (182 jobs; 412 military jobs lost, 531 civilian jobs gained, 63 contractors gained).

REALIGNMENTS

Sheppard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, (2,624 jobs lost; 2,468 military, 156 civilian).
Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, (3,140 jobs lost, 2,254 military, 770 civilian, 116 contractor).
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi (1,025 jobs lost; 926 military, 89 civilian, 10 contractor).
Fort Hood Army Post, Killeen, (191 jobs lost; 73 military, 118 civilian—not counting plans to shift thousands of 4th Infantry Division soldiers to Fort Carson)
Corpus Christi Army Depot (92 civilian jobs lost).
Ellington Field Air Guard Station (3 civilian jobs lost).

TOTALS FOR TEXAS:

Military jobs lost: 25,722.
Civilian jobs lost: 6,695.
Contractor jobs lost: 513.
Military jobs gained: 35,560.
Civilian jobs gained: 3,520.
Net jobs gained: 6,150.

PAST BASE CLOSURES SINCE 1988

Galveston Naval Station, Galveston, 1988.
Bergstrom Air Force Base, Austin, 1991.
Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, 1991.
Chase Field Naval Air Station, Beeville, 1991.
Dallas Naval Air Station, Dallas, 1993.
Kelly Air Force Base, San Antonio, 1995.
Reese Air Force Base, Lubbock, 1995.

BRAC TIMELINE
July 11: Texas hearing in San Antonio before members of the Base Realignment and Closing Commission. The commissioners are appointed to do their own research of the Pentagon's recommendations and to make their own recommendations to the president.

Sept. 8: Deadline for BRAC commission to send its recommendations to President Bush.

Sept. 23: Deadline for Bush to either approve or disapprove of list.

Oct. 20: Deadline for list to be revised by the BRAC commission if Mr. Bush disapproves of it.

Nov. 7: Deadline for Bush to certify the BRAC commission list and submit it to Congress, which has 45 days to pass motion of disapproval or the commission's list becomes law.

April 15, 2006: Termination of the BRAC commission's authority.

Lawmakers Question Army Post Analysis

Kat — Wed, 25 May 2005 12:04:53 -0700

May 25, 2005
Lawmakers Question Army Post Analysis

Waco Tribune Herald
From STAFF REPORTS |

U.S. Reps. Chet Edwards and John Carter on Tuesday heaped further doubt on a proposal to move troops from Fort Hood, noting that analysts omitted 37,600 acres of land newly available for training at the massive Army post.

Lawmakers said they learned the acreage had not been considered during a second meeting with Department of Defense officials to discuss the initial Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) proposal, which would cut nearly 8,500 troops from Fort Hood by 2011.

"The availability of training acreage is a major consideration in the BRAC process and it is again troubling that important information like this was not considered in the initial proposal," Carter, R-Round Rock, said in a statement.

Edwards, who represented the post until January, told the Tribune-Herald that the additional 37,600 acres made available to the post resulted after endangered species restrictions were lifted for the land, allowing more fort property for actual training.

Fort Hood officials last month announced a partnership with nearby property owners to increase habitat for two endangered bird species while freeing up training ground. It calls for landowners to work with the fort to restore and maintain viable habitat for the golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo.

However, the subsequent gain in training ground for Fort Hood was not factored into the BRAC analysis.

"That's not a criticism of the Army," Edwards said. "They've been working on BRAC for several years and this development is just a month old. But it means a vital component in the Army's analysis is now changed and it ought to be considered by the BRAC commission." Edwards said he had serious questions about any proposal that "would move thousands of soldiers out of Fort Hood at a cost of half a billion dollars to taxpayers to an installation (Fort Carson, Colo.) where they would have to travel 150 miles by railcar to conduct training maneuvers."

As the BRAC recommendation stands, Fort Hood will have 40,863 military personnel by 2011. Current defense estimates indicate 49,305 soldiers will be based at Fort Hood by the end of 2005.

New PTSD To Focus On Waco VA ...

Kat — Sat, 14 May 2005 12:00:38 -0700

May 14, 2005
New PTSD To Focus On Waco VA, Fort Hood

Waco Tribune Herald
By Dan Genz | Tribune-Herald staff writer

Leaders in the fight to save the Waco Veterans Affairs Hospital celebrated a rare expansion in the hospital's mission Friday morning.

Labeling the hospital a "national center for excellence in mental health," U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, announced the facility will likely host a new $3 million study of causes and possible treatments of post traumatic stress disorder.

The study would be conducted jointly with nearby Fort Hood where the 4th Infantry and 1st Cavalry are based. Both divisions have served in the ongoing war in Iraq.

Former Waco Mayor Linda Ethridge and a crowd of about 50 applauded the news on the hospital grounds Monday, nearly two weeks after a federally organized panel held its first meeting on future uses for the 127-acre hospital.

"I think that moves us closer to the community goal of keeping the hospital here and open and providing mental health care services in Waco for our veterans," Ethridge said of Edwards' announcement.

Edwards said the study would seek to "better understand the root causes of PTSD and develop enhanced screening techniques while working toward new and improved treatments."

The money is included in the 2006 VA budget which Edwards' Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee passed this week. Though the plan remains several steps from final passage, Edwards voiced confidence it will become reality.

Edwards said the project can improve benefits for servicemen and women across the country while boosting the hospital at a crucial time. He said the project also signals Congress does not want the hospital closed.

"The subcommittee recognized the Waco VA is a national center for excellence in mental health," Edwards said. "The Waco VA Hospital's expertise in treating post traumatic stress disorder should be utilized as soldiers from nearby Fort Hood return to civilian life after serving in Iraq."

Edwards and others hope to enhance the Waco VA Hospital mission as a specialized center for mental health and PTSD treatments amid federal scrutiny of the hospital's cost, importance and future.

Initially targeted for closure, then downsizing, the Waco hospital is now under study by a panel of federal officials and Waco civic leaders, assigned by VA Secretary Jim Nicholson to craft future uses for the hospital.

Edwards' committee also increased the VA budget by 9 percent over last year and required that 20 percent of the VA's $397 million research budget focus on mental health, amounting to almost $80 million.

The research budget could result in further Waco studies in the future.

Local veterans leader Bill Mahon said the Waco VA facility is one of the best PTSD sites in the nation and that more research at the campus could help Americans beyond those with military backgrounds.

"PTSD doesn't just affect veterans but everyone they come in contact with," Mahon said.