LO C A L RO D R I G U E Z RA L LY
Challenger says McKeon killed bill that would aid military families
Rep.'s camp says bill only encouraged assistance, not mandated it
By HOWARD DECKER Staff Writer CONTACT THE WRITER: (760) 256-4122 or howard_decker@link.freedom.com
BARSTOW — Congressman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon killed a bill that would have made it easier for military members to take care of their families, his challenger for the 25th Congressional seat has charged. Robert Rodriguez, a Barstow native, made the charges at a press conference in front of the Veteran’s Home of California, Barstow Thursday morning. The bill, he said, was killed in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which McKeon chairs. It would have permitted paid time away from work for people caring for the children of deployed U. S. troops. The bill would allow the caregivers to utilize unused sick time donated by others. His father served in the Army and has two uncles who served in World War II, and has two cousins serving in Iraq, Rodriguez said. “I talk to soldiers all of the time, many of them from Ft. Irwin,” he said. “When they are deployed they are very concerned with what’s going on with their family at home.” “People who are so quick to vote to put our soldiers in harm’s way are voting to make it harder and harder for their loved ones to be cared for at home,” he said. A spokesman for McKeon, District Director Scott Thomas Wilk, said Thursday that the military family leave act merely “encouraged” private sector employees to allow the transferred sick leave. It did not require the tranfers by law. “Only in Washington D. C. would they try to pass a law that is not a law,” he said from his Santa Clarita office. Veteran Eloy Barajas, who attended the Rodriguez rally, said he spent 23 years in the Air Force and said many deployed military soldiers are not in a great state of mind because they worry about their families back home. The fact that this bill was killed will just add more stress to deployed military personnel, he said. “I knew people that had a real problem worrying about their families back home, both physical and mental stress,” he said. Rodriguez said that McKeon has failed to push two bills that would require the Pentagon to pay back money to soldiers who bought body armor and paid for it themselves. Wilk said he was not familiar with the body armor bills.
Howard Decker / Staff photographer Robert Rodriguez, right, candidate for the 25th Congressional district, held a rally in front of the California Veterans' Home, Barstow on Thursday. Vets home residents and others came to hear Rodriguez express concern about a bill that would make it easier for military service members to care for their families. The bill was killed in committee by his opponent, incumbent Congressman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon.
