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When thousands of people donate no more than $100 per person per election, we can build a campaign without money from special interests. _______________________ But it's about more than money. We need your energy and your enthusiasm, too. Sign up to volunteer on Jim Hansen's campaign for Congress.
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| Hansen criticizes funding cut for treating brain injures in Iraq |
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| posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 |
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Brain injury is the signature injury of the war in Iraq, yet Congress ignored the plight of veterans when it voted to cut spending in half for research and treatment of brain injuries, said Jim Hansen, a candidate for Idaho’s 2nd District seat in Congress.
“Congress is so caught up in deal-making for the most powerful interests in Washington, D.C., they have left those making the biggest sacrifices out,” Hansen said.
The 2007 Defense appropriation bill contains $7 million for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center. That’s half of what the center received in the last fiscal year. Members of the Appropriations Committee blamed a tight budget for the cuts.
Hansen’s opponent, Mike Simpson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, has praised the $439 billion Defense Department bill.
Hansen said it is wrong for Congress to cut funding for the soldiers who risk their lives in Iraq while at the same time approving huge tax cuts to the wealthy. “All Americans must sacrifice and share the burden during wartime,” Hansen said.
George Zitnay, co-founder of the Brain Injury Center, testified in May that body armor does not spare troops caught in explosions from brain damage. “Traumatic brain injury is the signature injury of the war on terrorism,” he testified (USA Today, Aug. 8, 2006).
Up to 20 percent of troops in Iraq suffer concussions from mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs, according to the Brain Injury Center, which is headquartered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Many experience headaches, disturbed sleep, memory loss and behavior problems after returning home.
Hansen said funding for injured veterans of the Iraq war would be available if Congress did a better job of overseeing expenditures in Iraq and closely examining new defense projects. The 2007 budget includes $84 billion for new weapons systems, an 8 percent increase in weapons spending, according to the Washington Post.
“The private defense industry is a huge contributor to congressional campaigns and it shows when the time comes to set the Defense budget,” Hansen said. “Sadly, our veterans cannot compete with the well-funded lobbyists and corporations seeking business with Congress.”
Hansen refuses to accept campaign contributions from PACs and special interest groups. He caps contributions to $100 and takes them from individuals only.
“I will work on behalf of our veterans, not the wealthy contributors who currently pull the strings in Congress,” he said.
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