Sam I have not seen or met a real person on any of this. My dealings with
the VFW were strictly by mail with VFW National Headquarters. All the
information on S1416 has come from this Military Vehicles List. I trust the
list as it seems to police itself and any bad information puts the guy in
line for a world of hurt from the members of this list. So I only know what
is on the list.
For the people that ask me "What can I do" ....well do what I did. There
already has been guys that submitted emails to this list with what to do and
how. There has also been a letter posted by one that I cut and pasted and
used myself.
Use this address for your Senators: http://www.senate.gov/ find "List
Senators by State" and double click on it. Find your Senators by State and
double click on their name. Their page comes up. Now find their email
address and email them. Separately of course. Also you must put all your
information at the bottom of the letter because they will not read and take
serious any letter without it because so many of them are alike. They need
to know that you are a real person and sometimes they call or email to check
to see.
Here is a copy of the letter that I cut and pasted off this list. I cut out
all the parade stuff that did not apply to me. Tailor the letter to suit
yourself:
Dear Senator "Your Senator's Name Here",
Senate Bill 1416, Section 1062, the Military Authorization Bill for 2002 is
virtually a mirror image of previously defeated legislation. The section
that has been introduced into the Senate would authorize the Secretary of
Defense to compel "demilitarization" of certain military equipment. This
provision is a rebirth of Section 361 of the old HR4205, defeated last year.
Frankly, there is not now, nor has there ever been, any argument that old
military equipment in the hands of private citizens poses any threat to
anyone. Rather, the provision is just one of those symbolic gestures that
chips away at the essence of American principles for the sake of superficial
political appeal.
Many of these vehicles that would be banned and have to be destroyed are
being used by people to deliver aid to fellow citizens in New York City and
to rally people to blood donation sites as well as other uses. Most of us
collect these vehicles and restore them to their original glory to preserve
history and the American way of life.
As proud reminders of our military history at a time when all Americans need
to join together to fight a common foe, these vehicles serve as powerful
tools of a previous time when America came together to defeat those who
would threaten our way of life.
As a registered voter I urge you to work to remove this section from the
final bill.
Sincerely,
Your Name Here
Your Address Here
Your State and Zip Here
Your Phone Number Here
Your Email Address Here
Here is the address for the Congress: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ just
double click on it and then put in your state and zip code. Get your
Representatives name and edit the above letter to fit a Representative in
stead of a Senator.
Floyd Petri
----- Original Message -----
From: <SHamil0725@aol.com>
To: <fpetri@eastex.net>
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2001 10:56 AM
Subject: Re: [MV] Fw: [MV] VFW and S1416
Floyd,
Had you noticed that the original sponsor of HR 51, a bill
> to allow military retirees to receive all benefits promised
> to them, is Gary Condit, D-California.
> I understand your feelings about the VFW, of which I am a
> member because I was in country in Vietnam. I couldn't
> find anything on VFW's web site that they favor S1416.
> But the VFW and American Legion are good organizations
> that do a lot of good although we members don't agree
> with everything they do. What they support comes out of
> open sessions at their state and national conventions.
> I wish you would consider joining the American Legion. If
> you go to their site at www.legion.org and check their
> Legion Action Center, you can see how the legion stands
> on all legislative actions. They also have an excellent system
> for writing messages to all of your legislators.
> Sam Hamilton, MVPA
> Stillwater, Oklahoma
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 08 2001 - 10:59:01 PDT