Graham to Legion: Your voice matters

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., sees worldwide threats to the United States growing. At the same time, the senator says the size of the U.S. military is being decreased.

That, Graham told two groups of Legionnaires on Aug. 11, is a bad combination.

“We’re on track to have the smallest Army since 1940,” Graham told Legionnaires at the Hampton Inn in Shelby, N.C., for The American Legion Baseball World Series. “As the threats to our nation grow, our military is being reduced in size and effectiveness. Does this remind you of any time in history? It reminds me a lot of the (1930s).”

Graham pointed to specific cuts in every branch of the military as a result of sequestration. “We’re going to be spending, by 2021, half of what we normally spend in Washington to defend the nation,” he said.

Graham, who spent 33 years in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserve, said the fight with ISIL isn’t going away. “These folks want a master religion,” he said. “We pulled out of Iraq too soon. Al-Qaeda in Iraq came back. Now they’re ISIL. They’ve got a lot of money and a lot of men who are willing to die. We’re not going to bomb these people into submission. Somebody’s got to go on the ground and dig them out.”

Graham told both the Legionnaires gathered at the Hampton Inn and then the audience at the World Series National Commander’s Reception later that night that while he doesn’t want to put boots on the ground in the Middle East, he sees no way around it.

“If I could find a way never to send another soldier back to Iraq or Afghanistan or Syria, I would,” he said. “But ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know how we’re going to be safe from this radical Islamic ideology if we don’t confront them over there. Because as surely as I speak, they want to come here. Nothing’s going to stop them short of military force.

“But their ultimate demise will be when the Middle East changes. We’ve got to do more than drop bombs on the heads of the enemy. We have to help other people in the region that will live in peace with us. We … have to invest in other peoples’ lives like we did in Germany in Japan. A small school house in a remote region educating a poor young girl will do more damage to the Taliban and ISIL than any bomb we can drop.”

Graham briefly touched on the current military retirement system and said he’d like to see a program in place that benefits those who stay in the military less than 20 years. “Eighty-five percent of the people who serve in the military never get a penny when they leave,” he said. “I want to change that.

“To those who are retired, you’re fine. But here’s the new system that we’re proposing: When you retire after 20 (years), you get 40 percent of your pay. From two years to 20, you can put 5 percent of your salary into an account, and the military will match 5 percent. If you leave at 12 (years), that money goes with you. If you leave at 10, that money goes with you. If you stay to 20, that money stays in the account and you can cash out. You’ll have more money, and that 10 percent we save will help the military budget.”

Switching over to veterans issues, Graham said while he doesn’t want to shut down the Department of Veterans Affairs, he does want to offer veterans a choice for their health care. “The VA will get better if you have a choice because you’ll close them up if they don’t serve you better,” he said. “The best way to get the VA to respond to veterans, in my view, is give veterans a choice.

“I don’t want to shut down the VA. I want the veterans to tell me which ones work and which ones don’t. At the end of the day, competition is the best way to produce quality and best way to get outcomes.”

Graham praised the Legion for its advocacy on behalf of those who at one time, or still, wear the nation’s uniform. “The American Legion is a voice for those who have served, who are serving and who will serve,” he said. “Your voice matters. I hope you understand that The American Legion is needed more today than any time in modern history. It helps to have somebody speak for the soldier, sailor, airmen (and) Marine who’s walked in their shoes.

“I stand behind The American Legion and everything you stand for because without your voice, Congress would be adrift right now.”