Congresswoman Renee Ellmers: Honoring Our Fallen Heroes


Tomorrow is Memorial Day when we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I celebrated our military heroes this week at the 17th Annual Women in the Military Wreath Laying Ceremony taking place in Arlington National Cemetery. Please join me in taking time tomorrow to remember those who gave their life to serve in America’s Armed Forces.

It is equally important that we honor and care for the veterans who returned home after serving our country.  As horror stories continue to surface about the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), it becomes evident that there is poor management and no accountability. This is inexcusable, and is precisely why the House voted and passed H.R. 4031, the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act. This legislation ensures that we are holding senior VA officials accountable by making it easier to remove senior executives whose performance warrants it. I am proud to cosponsor this bill, as our veterans have earned only the best care, and we will continue to work in the House to see that we keep our promise to them.

Also this week, the House passed H.R. 4435, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (NDAA), including my amendment to strengthen and improve TRICARE notifications sent to service members and their families. After speaking and meeting with numerous military families and veterans, it became clear they were failing to receive appropriate notification about changes made to their TRICARE coverage. I have worked hard to get this problem resolved and hope you’ll read more about this amendment below in this newsletter.

In the news this week, a new poll showed 47% of the unemployed have “completely given up” looking for work. This is shameful, and House Republicans are working hard to create jobs and opportunities for growth.  Unfortunately, dozens of jobs bills passed by the House are sitting in the Senate waiting for action. See our plan for jobs at http://gop.gov/jobs.

I am thankful for the opportunity to serve you in Washington and represent the Second District.  Please contact my office with any questions or concerns.  We are here to serve you!

Passing the TIME Act

I released the following statement this week after the House successfully passed H.R. 4435- the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (NDAA), which included my amendment to strengthen and improve TRICARE notifications to service members and their families:

“Today I’m honored to announce the passage of my amendment to protect service members, their families, and veterans from being blindsided by changes made to their TRICARE coverage. This amendment will address a problem facing tens of thousands of military members and their families who are left to navigate the bureaucracy of their health care benefits without adequate information and timely updates from their provider – TRICARE. For far too long, military families have been caught off guard by changes to policies and procedures regarding their benefits, leaving them ill-equipped to plan ahead and understand their options.”

“I’m very grateful to House Armed Services Committee Chairman McKeon for allowing this amendment to be included in this year’s NDAA and his leadership on behalf of our military. Meanwhile, I will continue to fight on behalf of Fort Bragg to protect our community from losing the 440th Airlift Wing – a misguided decision that would jeopardize military readiness and destroy more than 1,200 jobs while gutting nearly $80 million out of our economy.”

This week the House of Representatives successfully passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (NDAA) with my amendment to strengthen TRICARE. The amendment will mandate TRICARE to notify all affected beneficiaries and providers of changes made to benefits that are provided by TRICARE no less than 90 days before the date on which the change covered is to occur.

This measure protects service members, their families, and veterans from being blindsided by changes made to their TRICARE coverage.

Click Here to learn more about the Time Act.

Click Here to view my colloquy with HASC Chairman McKeon on behalf of my amendment to protect Fort Bragg’s 440th Airlift Wing on the House Floor.

Honoring Our Heroes

Last week, I was honored to help celebrate our military heroes in the “17th Annual Women in the Military Wreath Laying Ceremony” at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. It was my pleasure to introduce one of the Coast Guard’s highest performing senior enlisted members, Machinery Technician Chief, Tina Claflin.

Fighting to End Human Trafficking

On Tuesday, I spoke about the bills introduced in the House to combat sex trafficking. While many believe this to be an issue abroad, it is just as relevant at home — including here in the second district. Click here or on the image below to watch video of my speech. If you’d like to learn more about the anti-sex trafficking bills the House passed this week, click here.
The bills we passed this week take a number of steps from enhancing law enforcement and tracking registered sex offenders to strengthening social services and counseling available to victims, but they are only a first step in this fight.

Health Subcommittee Hearing on 21st Century Cures

In the Energy & Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee hearing this week, I had the opportunity to learn more about “21st Century Cures,” a new initiative aiming to accelerate the pace of developing cures and drug innovation within our country. With approximately 70,000 veterans in our district, I inquired about the types of new technologies and medicines developed to treat veterans with PTSD. I also requested more information on how we can make clinical trials for newly-developed medicines more efficient and less expensive. Click here or on the image above for video from the hearing.

Snapshot from the District

Buddy, the therapy dog, and his owner, J.R. Poe stopped by my district office in Dunn this week. You can read more about the work Buddy is doing here.

In the News

Ellmers bill would save Air Force Reserve wing
The Hill
A congresswoman from North Carolina introduced a bipartisan amendment Monday that would preserve a 440th Air Force Reserve unit based at Fort Bragg’s Pope Airfield. The measure, introduced by Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) would amend the House’s 2015 defense authorization bill, which will be debated by House lawmakers this week. “These cuts would be detrimental for the Fayetteville community — eradicating jobs and damaging the livelihood of many hard working men and women who serve Fort Bragg and Pope Airfield,” she said.

Ellmers works to keep Bragg Airlift Wing
Raleigh News & Observer
U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers, a Republican from Dunn, on Monday offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2015 that would prevent the Department of Defense from going ahead with a proposal to deactivate Fort Bragg’s 440th Airlift Wing. The Second District, which Ellmers represents, includes Fort Bragg. Democratic Reps. David Price of Chapel Hill and Mike McIntyre of Lumberton, whose districts also include areas near the base, co-sponsored the amendment.

Ellmers Deserves Our Thanks
Rep. David Lewis – Dunn Daily Record
“Congresswoman Renee Ellmers understands how important it is to protect and strengthen Medicare and that a compassionate country takes care of its elderly citizens. She also understands the value of a truly free and vibrant market in delivering products and services at the lowest cost and with the highest level of quality and satisfaction. That is why she has been such a champion of the Medicare Part D Program and has stood up to the Obama administration when it has tried to undermine it.”

N.C. lawmakers introduce amendment to protect Reserve C-130 wing

Military Times/Navy Times/Army Times/Air Force Times
Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., today introduced an amendment to the fiscal 2015 National Defense Authorization Act to protect the reserve C-130H unit. “While these proposed cuts do not reflect a final agreement, I remain deeply concerned about the effect this will have back home,” Ellmers said in a statement. “These cuts would be detrimental for the Fayetteville community — eradicating jobs and damaging the livelihood of many hard working men and women who serve Fort Bragg and Pope Airfield.”

Our View: Time’s running out to save the 440th Airlift Wing
Editorial – Fayetteville Observer
“The 440th’s best hope for staying alive may lie with an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act filed on Monday by Rep. Renee Ellmers, a Dunn Republican. The bipartisan measure was cosponsored by Reps. Richard Hudson, Mike McIntyre and David Price. It would prohibit the Air Force from using its budget to ‘inactivate, relocate, or otherwise disrupt the mission, personnel, or aircraft of the 440th Airlift Wing.’ Ellmers will testify for the amendment before the Rules Committee this week, her staff said on Monday. If it is included in the defense authorization act, it will be debated this week. The final vote on the authorization is expected on Thursday. The measure will then go to the Senate, where its schedule isn’t clear… The loss of the 440th would take more than 1,200 jobs and nearly $80 million out of our economy. But the bigger loss could be the readiness of the nation’s foremost rapid-deployment force. That should be unacceptable.”

Budget amendment seeks to preserve 440th Airlift Wing
Fayetteville Observer
Fort Bragg’s congresswoman has introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would bar the military from closing a Fort Bragg unit. In a release, Ellmers said the amendment was the latest effort to save the 440th. “My office has been working with military officials at Fort Bragg and the Defense Department to investigate how this decision was made, how it would impact the surrounding community of Fort Bragg, and what legislative alternatives could be provided to prevent this from happening,” she said. “Based on these discussions and the leadership of my North Carolina colleagues here in the House, I decided to introduce this amendment today to this year’s NDAA.” Ellmers said the proposed inactivation of the 440th was deeply concerning.

Congressional Delegation visits Air National Guardsmen
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
The highlight of the visit occurred when the Representatives learned it was one mother’s birthday. Ellmers and Roby hugged U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Cynthia Jackson, maintenance supply NCOIC and a resident of Montgomery, Ala., as the entire room sang, “Happy Birthday” to her and she instantly broke into tears of joy. “It was really cool for the congresswomen to sing happy birthday to me,” said Jackson. “It was the highlight of my day.”

McCrory views CAT program as model for state
The Sanford Herald
The partnership among a local company, public school system and community college has officials in job-starved North Carolina excited. So excited, in fact, that a graduation ceremony for eight Lee County students in the Caterpillar apprenticeship program was attended Thursday night by U.S. Congresswoman Renee Ellmers, N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory, N.C. Sen. Ronald Rabin, N.C. Rep. Mike Stone, State Board of Education Chairman William Cobey, the entire board of directors of the State Board of Community Colleges and an international-level manager from Caterpillar.