Hunting
down fakers, forgers
Justice
and law
18 Oct 2004
Army Times
WHAT'S
UP: Forging military documents or claiming fake military documents are
real
would become a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail under
a bill
introduced Sept. 28 by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.
The
bill, S 2855, is an outgrowth of the CBS News reporting of what were
revealed
to be false documents about the Air National Guard service of President
Bush.
Inhofe said forging military papers is not necessarily a crime under
current
law.
WHAT'S
NEXT: Closing loopholes in the law, which now covers fake discharges or
any
document with a seal but not routine correspondence or medical records,
is an
idea that would get wide support if not for the fact that this is a
politically
charged issue amid a hotly contested presidential campaign. Once the
election
is over, the issue might be reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee,
to
which Inhofe's bill was referred.
Voting
Shopping
for military voters
WHAT'S
UP: Attention commissary shoppers: Register to vote now at the table at
the end
of the lettuce aisle! Military commissaries are joining forces with
installation voting officers to help make space available for voter
information
and registration tables. It's a natural, according to commissary
officials,
because commissaries are among the busiest locations on an
installation,
drawing active-duty members, retirees and family members.
WHAT'S
NEXT: Store directors report that as many as 40 to 60 people per store
register
to vote during special commissary events. The tables, whether inside or
outside
stores, are placed strategically away from shopping and checkout areas.
The
effort is intensifying as deadlines loom for requesting absentee
ballots.
The
commissary Web site, www.commissaries.com, has a
link to
the Federal Voting Assistance Program Web site, www.fvap.gov,
with a trove of information on
absentee voting.
Washington
Faint
praise for construction bill
WHAT'S
UP: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who makes it a practice to keep track of
pet
projects known as "earmarks" that are added to appropriations bills
by lawmakers, said he applauded the Senate's "generally clean" 2005
military construction appropriations bill. "Amazingly, this report
contains only 35 earmarks totaling $44.7 million," he said, compared
with
$80 million in pet projects, known in political circles as "pork," in
last year's bill.
WHAT'S
NEXT: The $10 billion construction bill, HR 4837, isn't complete, and
there are
many differences between the House and Senate versions that must be
worked out
before the final legislation passes. That provides further
opportunities for
lawmakers to add projects to the Pentagon's request, something McCain
knows he
cannot prevent.
Pay
and benefits
Better
bennies during wartime
WHAT'S
UP: Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., wants the government to provide better
wartime
benefits for service members. First, he wants GI Bill education
benefits to be
free, as they were during the Vietnam era. Active-duty service members
now must
contribute $1,200 to be eligible for those benefits. Second, Hagel
wants the
$12,000 gratuity paid to families of troops who die on active duty to
be
increased to $50,000. Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, wants both changes to
be
retroactive to the start of the global war on terrorism.
WHAT'S
NEXT: In pushing for the initiatives, Hagel said he wants the
government to
reduce the financial burden on troops and their families in wartime.
But two
hurdles stand in his way --he hasn't said how he would pay for the
enhanced
benefits, and he introduced his bills so late in the congressional
session that
it will be difficult for lawmakers to act on them before quitting for
the year.
Party
pooper of the week
No
booze, cigs, coffee -- or fun
A
former U.S. Army doctor brought in to review the health of British
service
members has suggested banning alcohol, tobacco, caffeine -- including
coffee,
tea and soda -- and contact sports from military bases. He also says
many
veterans are obese.
Tony
Hall was hired by the British Ministry of Defence to look at health
problems of
British Persian Gulf War veterans.