Assessing Gabrielle Giffords’ performance

By Lee Basnar
Herald/Review

Sunday, August 26, 2007

The public’s low opinion of the Bush administration and of Congress is nudging residents of many congressional districts to question the effectiveness of their elected representatives. How has Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who represents Arizona Congressional District 8, performed during her first seven months in office?

Giffords has been a strong supporter of our active and retired military members and their families. For example, the Military Officers Association of America listed six key issues in its August edition of Military Officer magazine. Giffords co-sponsored every one, which included eliminating the deduction of VA survivor benefits from survivor benefit annuities, eliminating the offset between military retired pay and veterans’ disability compensation, and barring fee increases for TRICARE beneficiaries during fiscal year 2008. She also co-sponsored MOAA-backed legislation that would allow active and retired servicemembers to pay for TRICARE premiums on a pretax basis, legislation that would reduce the Reserve retirement age, legislation that would improve treatment and benefits for severely injured servicemembers and veterans, and legislation that would increase the troops’ pay above that in the budget plan.

Sen. John McCain co-sponsored four of the six MOAA-backed issues, and Sen. Jon Kyl failed to co-sponsor any of them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I belong to no political party, and I’m a retired Army officer and a member of MOAA. I concur with MOAA’s support of each of the six issues, and I commend Giffords and McCain for supporting all or most of them.

Kyl’s lack of concern by failing to co-sponsor even one of the issues is deplorable. I think lowering the retirement age for Reservists is appropriate, particularly because many Reservists have been deployed repeatedly, disrupting civilian careers and family life. We can’t treat those service members as second-class citizens and expect them to maintain high morale and peak effectiveness. Kyl’s apparent indifference to providing veterans and their families with proper compensation for their service is disturbing.

Giffords sponsored a bill to strengthen controls on the export of surplus parts for F-14 fighter aircraft, an amendment to the National Trails System Act to designate the Arizona National Scenic Trail, and an amendment to create a Solar Energy Industries Research and Promotion Board. She also sponsored a bill to authorize the secretary of the interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to conduct a feasibility study of water augmentation alternatives to the Sierra Vista Subwatershed.

The congresswoman has co-sponsored many bills, including increasing basic pay for members of the Armed Forces, amending the rules of the House of Representatives to require that the lists of earmarks be made available to the public on the Internet, amending the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research, and a bill moving the United States toward greater energy independence and security through use of clean renewable fuels, and improving energy performance of the federal government, along with many other bills.

Congresswoman Giffords conducts frequent town hall meetings in her district, responds to letters and e-mail messages, and makes herself available to her constituents as much as possible. She is obviously a fast learner, and, so far, appears to be a dedicated public servant.

I have read complaints that the Herald/Review publishes articles about Giffords too frequently. As a free-lance journalist, I disagree. The public deserves to be made aware of her performance, good or bad. I believe in recognizing good leaders and criticizing those who don’t measure up. Giffords is doing a good job, in my view. I’ll be one of the first to publicly denounce her if her performance warrants criticism. To date, she seems to be representing her constituents well.

No politician can please everyone. I suggest that Americans, regardless of party affiliation, would do well to evaluate their congressional representatives based on their ability and accomplishments, rather than on lockstep, party-driven politics.

Click here to read the article in the Sierra Vista Herald