Lincoln – As a veteran, I've been watching to see how my congressman, Jeff Fortenberry, measures up to supporting the needs of veterans specifically, the military generally, and national security in a global sense. I don't like what I see; he does not acquit himself well.
Veterans
Veterans education is a big cause of mine, particularly eliminating abuse of GI-Bill recipients. Predatory for-profit colleges have unfortunately placed targets on the backs of both veterans and active duty personnel, to take advantage of them. These schools need GI-Bill and Defense Department revenues so as to get at least 10% of their income from sources other than student-aid under the federal Higher Education Act, or lose HEA eligibility to participate. Many such schools cannot get enough private paying students to enroll to meet the 10% requirement, because their programs are not worth the money. Consequently, they target veterans to take in GI-Bill revenues. At the same time, they often load up veterans with high levels of student-loan debt.
That many veterans have been defrauded is not in question. Under the law, they are to have their loans cancelled if they were defrauded by the schools. However, under the current administration, Secretary Betsy DeVos (a protector of predatory schools) has made that process as difficult as she can for veterans and all other similarly situated victims. Congress, last January, after hearing from dozens of veterans' organizations, disapproved the DeVos procedure on bipartisan, bicameral votes (H. J. Res. 76). Jeff Fortenberry, however, voted to implement the DeVos rules in spite of united veterans' opposition. The president then vetoed H. J. Res 76, even after organizations like the American Legion implored him to sign it, whereupon Fortenberry once again voted to disregard veterans' pleas, as he upheld the DeVos rules. On July 1, the new rules went into effect, to the great dismay and potential financial ruination of many defrauded veterans.
Military Leadership and Discipline
Proper support of the military is important in Nebraska's First District, especially because Sarpy County is home to a major defense installation, Offut Air Force Base. Many Nebraska voters care about how the president and their congressional representative view the military.
On my desk, still in my possession from military officer training, is the book Naval Leadership*, which describes what it takes to be a good leader: "A leader cannot be made from a man who does not sincerely want to become one, or from a man who is unwilling to make the sacrifices required.... To be an outstanding leader requires the hardest kind of work, for which very little material credit will be forthcoming."
I see no such leadership qualities in our current commander-in-chief, who displays the opposite on all the criteria. Nor do I see in him appreciation of "good order and discipline" in the military services. Donald Trump has repeatedly undermined the military chain of command and interfered with the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), particularly with regard to discipline for war crimes. He confuses war criminals with heroes.
Nebraskans expect their congressman to stand up for military leaders who know the value of sacrifice, discipline, leadership, and good order. I look in vain for evidence that Jeff Fortenberry shares such values and expectations. The record is silent as to any Fortenberry expression of concern to the commander-in-chief, directly or indirectly, about his behavior undermining military leadership and discipline.
A new article in The Atlantic provides more revelations of Trump's dismissive attitude toward military service: "suckers, losers." This will be an opportunity for Fortenberry to speak up or, as in the past, excuse the president for his behavior by ignoring it.
National Security and International Alliances
Military discipline and leadership is also a national security issue of the gravest concern for our international alliances. When U.S. forces are stationed on foreign soil, the host country must have confidence in the American military justice system. Donald Trump has jeopardized that. Our alliances themselves, NATO foremost among them, are increasingly at risk under Trump, who is wont to disparage our allies while praising adversarial dictators. Congressman Fortenberry has been ineffective in seeking to retain the Open Skies Treaty, important to our NATO allies (and partly based at Offut) but about to be killed by Trump.
All of this comes on top of the conclusion from Trump's own former Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, a former 4-star Marine Corps general, who this summer wrote,
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”
Where is Fortenberry? He votes to condone the defrauding of veterans by making it difficult for them to get loan cancellations. He is nowhere to be seen when it comes to supporting our active-duty servicemen and women who are trying to work within a system of good order and discipline. He is ignored in national security matters.
These issues are too serious to joke about, but it is illustrative of the problem that the White House recently identified Fortenberry as from Louisiana, not Nebraska. As far as I'm concerned, he might as well be, because he does not represent my views, as a Nebraskan, on veterans and on military affairs. I carried a Navy ID card of one kind or another for 44 years, and I want better representation.
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* Naval Leadership (1949), U.S. Naval Institute, 2nd printing.
