Jason Crow: Rep. Boebert — Honoring our nation’s heroes means keeping our promises to them
Recently for Memorial Day, Coloradans paid tribute to the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives in service of our country. Across the state, people attended memorial services, fundraised for veterans’ organizations, and spent time with Colorado’s Gold Star families.
But in Washington, some politicians praised those who served our country while having pushed for drastic cuts to the health care and benefits that our veterans have earned and deserve.
I’m calling them out.
When brave servicemembers raise their right hand and take the sacred oath to defend our country, they know it comes with tremendous sacrifices.
They will spend time away from their families. They will miss important milestones like holidays, their friends' weddings, and their children’s birthdays. Some will become seriously injured or suffer from post-traumatic stress. Some will give their lives.
When a servicemember takes this sacred oath, our country makes an oath to them in return. If our veterans need care, or if they give their lives in service to our country, we will be there for them, for their families, and for their children.
This oath should be unquestionable and unbreakable.
And yet, here we are.
The U.S. House just voted to pay the nations’ bills. If we didn’t, for the first time ever, our country would have defaulted on our obligations.
The consequences for working families would have been catastrophic. Default would trigger an economic recession. The federal government would be unable to fund benefits our seniors have earned and depend on from Social Security and Medicare. Retirement savings would plummet. Coloradans would see costs increase for everything from health care to home mortgages. And much more.
That’s why nearly 80 times in the past 60 years, Congress under both Democratic and Republican presidents voted to adjust the debt limit and avoid default.
But recently, a small group of extreme House Republicans, including Representative Lauren Boebert, held our economy hostage and refused to support a bipartisan solution to pay the nation’s bills. In the last few weeks, they used the debt ceiling as a ransom note: in exchange for staving off economic collapse, they demanded extreme spending cuts that included slashing veterans’ benefits and veterans’ health care.
Rep. Boebert voted for legislation that would have slashed veterans’ benefits.
That is unacceptable.
In Pueblo, coined the “Home of Heroes,” we know our veterans, through their incredible bravery and sacrifice, earned the benefits and healthcare they depend on.
Pueblo knows honoring our heroes means keeping our promises to them.
So anyone who claims to represent Pueblo should stop playing political games and support bipartisan solutions that protect Colorado’s working families and our veterans.
Now, more than ever, our country needs leaders who will work to find common sense solutions to make people’s lives better.
Jason Crow represents Colorado's 6th District in Congress and is a former Army Ranger who served our country in Iraq in Afghanistan.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Crow: Honoring our nation’s heroes means keeping our promises to them
