Our Troops Need More Than Bumper Stickers

There are many people on both sides of the issue of whether or not we should be in Iraq who are in agreement on the need to support the troops. Sadly, many seem to think supporting the troops is simply a matter of supplying war material. There is much more to it than that.

Our troops need encouragement. They need our prayers. They need reasonable time away from deployment in Iraq to decompress and to tend to their families. An amendment to a defense bill that is before the Senate would have mandated that troops be given as much time between deployments to Iraq as they spent on their last tour in Iraq.

It is absolutely reasonable. It certainly makes sense to protect the mental and emotional health of the troops. Yet, it failed to get the sixty votes required to add it to the bill. My own senators both voted against the amendment. I sent them each e-mails expressing my displeasure with their votes. I think all the senators who voted against the amendment deserve to be raked over the coals for their lack of concern for the wellbeing of our soldiers.

I will list how the Associated Press reported their votes. A "Yes" vote would have supported the reasonable mandatory time between deployments. A "No" vote was against the measure.

Alabama
Sessions (R) No; Shelby (R) No.

Alaska
Murkowski (R) No; Stevens (R) No.

Arizona
Kyl (R) No; McCain (R) No.

Arkansas
Lincoln (D) Yes; Pryor (D) Yes.

California
Boxer (D) Yes; Feinstein (D) Yes.

Colorado
Allard (R) No; Salazar (D) Yes.

Connecticut
Dodd (D) Yes; Lieberman (I) No.

Delaware
Biden (D) Yes; Carper (D) Yes.

Florida
Martinez (R) No; Nelson (D) Yes.

Georgia
Chambliss (R) No; Isakson (R) No.

Hawaii
Akaka (D) Yes; Inouye (D) Yes.

Idaho
Craig (R) No; Crapo (R) No.

Illinois
Durbin (D) Yes; Obama (D) Yes.

Indiana
Bayh (D) Yes; Lugar (R) No.

Iowa
Grassley (R) No; Harkin (D) Yes.

Kansas
Brownback (R) No; Roberts (R) No.

Kentucky
Bunning (R) No; McConnell (R) No.

Louisiana
Landrieu (D) Yes; Vitter (R) No.

Maine
Collins (R) Yes; Snowe (R) Yes.

Maryland
Cardin (D) Yes; Mikulski (D) Yes.

Massachusetts
Kennedy (D) Yes; Kerry (D) Yes.

Michigan
Levin (D) Yes; Stabenow (D) Yes.

Minnesota
Coleman (R) Yes; Klobuchar (D) Yes.

Mississippi
Cochran (R) No; Lott (R) No.

Missouri
Bond (R) No; McCaskill (D) Yes.

Montana
Baucus (D) Yes; Tester (D) Yes.

Nebraska
Hagel (R) Yes; Nelson (D) Yes.

Nevada
Ensign (R) No; Reid (D) Yes.

New Hampshire
Gregg (R) No; Sununu (R) Yes.

New Jersey
Lautenberg (D) Yes; Menendez (D) Yes.

New Mexico
Bingaman (D) Yes; Domenici (R) No.

New York
Clinton (D) Yes; Schumer (D) Yes.

North Carolina
Burr (R) No; Dole (R) No.

North Dakota
Conrad (D) Yes; Dorgan (D) Yes.

Ohio
Brown (D) Yes; Voinovich (R) No.

Oklahoma
Coburn (R) No; Inhofe (R) No.

Oregon
Smith (R) Yes; Wyden (D) Yes.

Pennsylvania
Casey (D) Yes; Specter (R) No.

Rhode Island
Reed (D) Yes; Whitehouse (D) Yes.

South Carolina
DeMint (R) No; Graham (R) No.

South Dakota
Johnson (D) Yes; Thune (R) No.

Tennessee
Alexander (R) No; Corker (R) No.

Texas
Cornyn (R) No; Hutchison (R) No.

Utah
Bennett (R) No; Hatch (R) No.

Vermont
Leahy (D) Yes; Sanders (I) Yes.

Virginia
Warner (R) No; Webb (D) Yes.

Washington
Cantwell (D) Yes; Murray (D) Yes.

West Virginia
Byrd (D) Yes; Rockefeller (D) Yes.

Wisconsin
Feingold (D) Yes; Kohl (D) Yes.

Wyoming
Barrasso (R) No; Enzi (R) No.

Send a letter, fax, or e-mail to your senators and let them know how you feel about their votes. Don't let them think you don't pay attention or care. If you don't know how to contact them, just go to www.senate.gov.

That's my two cents.

Wade Houston
September 19, 2007