Joe Biden loves to talk about honoring our veterans, but his actions are far different from the words that come out of his mouth.
To that point, Senator Tuberville (R-AL) is now claiming that Biden has been reallocating veteran funding to resources for migrants.
Talking Points…
- Biden and our military
- Tuberville announces ban
- Analysis
Joe Biden has always put on the proper front that he supports our active and veteran military, but that is not actually the case. Biden showed his true colors during the pandemic when the active military was pushing back against the vaccine for a variety of reasons. Keep in mind that this was not your typical situation in which vaccinations were needed for a deployment.
Republicans tried to protect the active military from being disciplined for not wanting to take the vaccine, but the Biden administration pushed back, saying it would not support any legislation that would not allow the active military to be disciplined for not wanting to take the vaccine, which included a possible dishonorable discharge. At the time, the White House stated:
"The Administration strongly opposes section 716, which would detract from readiness and limit a commander's options for enforcing good order and discipline when a Service member fails to obey a lawful order to receive a vaccination.
"To enable a uniformed force to fight with discipline, commanders must have the ability to give orders and take appropriate disciplinary measures."
During a Town Hall, Biden responded in the affirmative when asked if he would support a dishonorable discharge for the military who refused the vaccine. He took it one step further to suggest that any first responders who refused to get vaccinated should also lose their jobs.
Senator Tuberville is now pushing back against resources being pulled from different areas to provide care for migrants who have entered the country illegally. As a response to the Biden administration, Tuberville has introduced the No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act, which would prevent the administration from reallocating funds from the VA for migrant care. Tuberville stated:
"[Biden's] decided, OK, we've got to feed all these 10 million people we've let come across the border, we've got to house them, and we've got to give them health care.
"They've opened up care from the doctors in these [VA] community care systems. The lines now in the VA's are getting longer. Our funds that are supposed to go to the veterans are going to these illegal immigrants that are coming across."
The White House pushed back on Tuberville's comments, insisting that his claims were "completely false."
Tuberville is both right and wrong in addressing this issue. He is dead on that we need to take better care of our veterans, not allowing veteran resources to be drained by other programs. However, this program has been in place for years, not just under the Biden administration.
The current arrangement between the VA's Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was outlined in a memo that the Trump administration issued. However, the actual interagency agreement that is in place dates back to 2002, which would have been the George W. Bush administration.
The current process is for migrants to be treated onsite when they require medical care. However, if care is needed that is not readily available at the migrant holding facility, the migrant may be taken to a private provider. ICE then contacts the VA-FSC to reimburse the provider. According to the VA, it only uses its processing system, not its actual funding, which it says comes from ICE's budget.
Having said that, the problem now is that the backlog of claims being processed has resulted in delayed care for veterans or veterans receiving bills from providers they should not be receiving. A former VA adviser told Fox News there was a "history of a backlog of medical claims which has resulted in veterans getting bills they shouldn't be getting, and … having dissatisfied community care providers who are not getting paid in a timely manner."
