Representative Drake Live Blog - Transcript

The Virginian Federalist conducted a live blog interview with Congresswoman Thelma Drake. A special thank you to Congresswoman Drake for taking the time to answer these questions. We would also like to thank Jim Hoeft and Vivian Paige for letting their readers know about this live blog. We would also like to thank our readers for their insightful questions. We tried to cover as many as we could in the limited time available, but we apologize if we did not get to yours.

Here is the transcript of the live blog:

Publius said...

Congresswoman Thelma Drake, welcome to The Virginian Federalist. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to discuss some important issues with us. And thank you to our readers for your many insightful questions. For time’s sake let’s go to the first question.One of our readers asks, “Have there been any developments on your memorial for military spouses legislation?”

Thelma Drake said...

It's great to be here. This is a very exciting opportunity to join your live blog.I’m glad you asked about the Military Spouses Monument. It has been an incredible pleasure to work with Karie Darga and Nicole Alcorn, founders of the Military Spouses Legacy Association. The bill has been introduced and I am currently working to get co-sponsors. Karie and Nicole were on Fox & Friends this past week to raise awareness for this issue and encourage others to contact their own members of Congress and get them to lend their support of this effort.

Lumen said...

We at The Virginian Federalist and many of our readers have questions about National Defense issues. The next several questions will be on that topic. What objectives of American national interest must we achieve in Iraq? What must the American military, the State Department, and other governmental organizations do in order to successfully achieve those objectives?

Thelma Drake said...

This is a good question and deserves a much longer answer.It is in the national interest of the United States to have a fully functioning, stable and democratic Iraq. We have to understand that we are engaged in a global war on terror.The objectives of our enemies are short-term: Iraq; mid-term the Middle East; and long-term: the world. This is coming from their own words. This is a battle that didn’t begin with Iraq and won’t end in Iraq. The reality is that our military and the State Department are actively engaged in a defined plan. What we cannot do as a Congress is hamstring our troops or our state department by withholding the necessary funding, or declaring timetables, which simply encourages our enemy. We need to let them do their jobs. Recently while driving on I-95, I saw a bumper sticker, intended for those of us in Congress, that said, “Sit down, shut up, and let my Marine do his job.” Well put.

Lumen said...

This question was sent in advance to Rep. Drake: Senator Webb of Virginia proposed an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act requiring that members of the military have a minimum amount of time between deployments equal to the length of their previous deployment. Do you support this amendment or a similar requirement? Are you pushing for any other legislative actions to better take care of the Soldiers and Marines who are shouldering the burden of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Should the Army be seeking ways other than stop-loss and IRR call-ups of veterans who have already fulfilled their military obligations to keep units deploying filled near full strength?

Thelma Drake said...

During my two visits to Iraq and continued conversations with returning servicemembers, I can’t tell you how impressed I am with their dedication, patriotism and commitment to achieving the mission. I think they have done tremendous work under difficult circumstances and deserve the admiration of all Americans, regardless of their feelings towards the war and this Administration.I agree with the underlying intent of Senator Webb’s amendment. I believe that a rested fighting force is an effective fighting force and in fact, when the Administration considered the idea of extending deployments from 12 to 15 months, I spoke out against it. However, as I have often stated, I have strong reservations towards attempting to micromanage this war from Capitol Hill. There is no military organization in the world that would be able to function effectively with a 535-member steering committee. I prefer the approach taken by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who proposed an amendment that omitted the directive language and expressed the sense of this Congress, or the view, that our men and women in uniform should have adequate periods of rest in between deployments.

Publius said...

I have noticed that you have actively worked to ensure better healthcare benefits to our Military Veterans, with such initiatives as your legislation regarding Veteran Choice in Nursing Home Care. In light of the fact that Healthcare is going to be one of the major issues in 2008, how has America done in taking care of its Veterans' health, and what can we do to improve their care?

Thelma Drake said...

Thanks for this question. This is an extremely important issue.I have been very concerned about recent reports of care that does not meet the standard we expect for our veterans. Since I’ve been elected to Congress, we have put a priority on increasing funding for veterans health care every year. Following the resignation of Jim Nicholson, I’m hopeful that the next Secretary of the VA will make it a priority to conduct a thorough, top-to-bottom inspection of how we deliver health care to our veterans.I would encourage any veterans or family members to contact my office if they are experiencing any problems with the quality of their care.

Lumen said...

Brian Kirwin would like to know, "Now that the amnesty bill is dead (good thing), what's the next step in fighting illegal immigration. I'm most concerned with the estimated up to 40% of illegal immigrants that are here not by sneaking across the border, but by overstaying visas and staying.Can't we get control of this?"

Thelma Drake said...

I was disappointed when I saw Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the fourth ranking Democrat in the House, predict that the Democrats would not attempt to fix our broken immigration system until at least the second term of a Democratic President. While I was happy to see the Senate’s amnesty bill die, I do believe Congress has an obligation to address this issue now.I think the death of the Senate bill provides Congress with a real opportunity to regain credibility with the American people on this issue. There are things that we can start doing now, such as securing our border, enforcing current laws, requiring better employer enforcement and creating workable partnerships between federal and local law enforcement to identify and deport criminal aliens. In fact, at the conclusion of this live blog, I will be heading to the floor to introduce an amendment to withhold federal funds from local governments with sanctuary city policies. These are positive things that we can do that will not only “cut off the spigot” so to speak, but give the American people reason to believe that Congress is taking this issue seriously.

Publius said...

We understand that you have to head to the House floor. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We wish you success in the amendment you are proposing.

Thelma Drake said...

I really appreciate the opportunity to join you guys tonight. I think the blogosphere offers many exciting new opportunities for citizens to interact with their elected officials. I apologize that I have to run to the floor, but I look forward to the opportunity to join you again sometime. I encourage Lee and anyone else with specific questions about legislation to visit my website http://www.drake.house.gov/ and send me an email.

Publius said...

This concludes our live blog interview with Congresswoman Thelma Drake. Thank you Congresswoman Drake, and thank you to our readers for coming by and asking some great questions. We all wish there was more time to get to more questions.