VFP Banner at the PDX VA today
Thursday June 7th 2018
Bob Projansky of VFP 72 and yours truly decided to take our banner to Save the VA up to the Portland VA Hospital.
We first held the banner in the parking lot near entrance to Hospital but the auto fumes were getting to us.
We decide to try and commandeer tables in the VA lobby and hand out some flyers.
We where there about an hour before we were told we couldn't do that. We engaged them politely asking why, they told us they were under policy regulations but that they were sympathetic to our message.
They told us where we could hold our banner and we have used that spot before and it is a pretty good option which we will use in future actions.
While we were in the lobby we had very positive responses by veterans who stopped by to find out what this was about.
I also today met with Congressman Earl Blumenauer's staff Dillion Bergstad to thank to the Congressman for voting against the VA Mission Act and thus taking a stand against privatization of Veterans Healthcare.
He gets it, as we discussed how we could create guardrails against this bill from implementing privatization.
Dillon also informed me that Blumenauer was going to introduce legislation to stop nuclear proliferation in what the Trump folks are supporting called low intensity nuclear weapons.
He will be sending me more info soon.
Also, I and Bob Projansky met yesterday with Senator Wyden's staff Ree Armirage.
I voiced our disappointment with the Senator for Voting for the VA Mission Act even though he has voiced similar concerns as ours.
Ree basically said he was pressured by the 23 other veterans groups that lobbied him for support for areas that where the low hanging fruit that we all want in expanded care was just too sweet to vote against
We explained, we understood that it was hard for the Senator to appear to be against certain positive measures but that these were just the sugar coated poison pill of privatization.
Looks and may taste good but it is really a bill to kick open the doors for privatization.
But, the bill has passed, now what is the Senator going to do to monitor and halt any efforts to privatize.
We said we would be willing to be in the loop and help with creative ways to safeguard the Veterans Healthcare.
Then I asked the Blumenauer to co-sponsor our HR 334 Agent Orange Relief Act 2017-2018 bill introduced by Barbara Lee in which we already have 23 co-sponsors.
Dillon an Afghanistan Veteran himself was very supportive and felt confident the Congressman would sign on.
I asked Ree to ask the Senator Wyden to write a companion Senate Bill, we shall see but I will be raising that also with Senator Merkley when I get a meeting with his staff.
The work never ends.
Dan Shea
VFP Board