It’s commonplace for congressional candidates to pledge support for U.S. troops, but surprisingly rare for members of Congress to be recognized by veterans for having actually done so.
This past week U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan (D–MO) was recognized as one of only 20 “exceptional leaders on veterans’ issues” to earn a perfect rating on a scorecard released by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Action Fund.A spokesperson said the group has over 200,000 members.
It is the second term in a row Carnahan has received a perfect score from the organization.
On Nov. 2 he stands for reelection to representative for Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District, the seat previously held by U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, a national powerhouse for the Democratic Party.
Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of IAVA Action Fund, said, “It is important that every American knows who in Washington really supports Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and who is just full of hot air.”
Carnahan faces four opponents on the Nov. 2 ballot. The best-funded and most visible is Republican Ed Martin, who has never served in elected office.
Martin has positioned himself as an outsider, based on his lack of elected experience, though he previously served as chief of staff for Republican Governor Matt Blunt.
Martin resigned from that position when then-Attorney General Jay Nixon opened an investigation into Martin’s reported deletions of staff emails that count as public records. No charges were ever filed.
Carnahan said he was frustrated that only 20 members of Congress – out of 535 – received the perfect score from the veterans group.
“This is not a partisan issue,” Carnahan said. “I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on. You have a duty to look out for our men and women in uniform, not only when they are out there fighting for us, but also when they come home.”
Carnahan: clean up atomic waste
Earlier this month Carnahan sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator Lisa Jackson asking questions about the West Lake Landfill.
In 1942, Mallinckrodt Chemical Works started producing uranium for atomic bombs. Dumped illegally in 1973, the waste landed right next to the Missouri River floodplain in the West Lake Landfill, which is west of Interstate 270 on St. Charles Rock Road.
It’s buried eight miles upstream from Missouri American Water Company’s intake for drinking water in Florissant that supplies all of North County. That’s also upstream from the Chain of Rocks water intake, a main supplier for St. Louis city’s water.
Carnahan’s alderwoman, Kacie Starr Triplett, sponsored a Board of Aldermen resolution requesting that Congress transfer jurisdiction over the cleanup of the site from the Environment Protection Agency to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Carnahan’s letter to Jackson of the EPA acts upon that resolution.
“The Army Corps of Engineers has cleaned up a number of radiologically contaminated locations in the area,” Carnahan wrote. “What reasons does EPA have for not transferring control of this site from the EPA to the Corps in order to remediate the contaminated waste?”
Kay Drey, with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, said she hopes Carnahan’s actions will inspire the federal government to clean up St. Louis’ one remaining site of highly radioactive, nuclear weapons waste. She said Carnahan’s letter “of excellent questions makes that essential goal undeniably clear.”
Attacker attacked
The 3rd Congressional District campaign received a flurry of media activity last week when Michael Corwin released a website that attempts to connect Martin’s tenure at the Archdiocese of St. Louis with a well-documented pattern of shielding priests that had agreed to settlements for sexual abuse of children.
Though Corwin’s investigation shows Martin had a role in purging the Archdiocese of progressive staff in its Human Rights Office – which Martin readily admits – there is no direct evidence that he participated in any decision that sheltered a pedophile priest. Martin angrily denied that he ever played such a role.
Martin in turn tried to connect Corwin’s website to Carnahan’s campaign. In fact, Jo Mannies of The Beacon reported that the Catholic investigative piece was responsible for Corwin and the Carnahan campaign severing ties after Corwin was paid an intial $2,000 for opposition research last year.
It is ironic to see Martin defend himself from a last-minute investigative attack package. Martin himself attempted a similar attack on Barack Obama in the final stretch of Obama’s successful campaign for U.S. president.
Martin founded the American Issues Project, which released a website and ads that attempted to portray Obama as friendly to terrorists.
Carnahan was a very early and vocal supporter of Obama, even during Obama’s bitter primary battle with Hillary Clinton. The Democratic National Committee has hailed Carnahan as a key supporter of the president in Congress.
Assistant United States Attorney John Bodenhausen will serve as district election officer in connection with the U.S. Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the Nov. 2 elections. Report any election fraud and voting rights abuses to him at 314-539-7733.
