It was great to be back in the district this week with stops including Raleigh, Cary, Sanford, and Fort Bragg.
Reports regarding substandard health care and treatment of our troops at Womack Army Medical Center are upsetting and require both accountability and a remedy. I was honored to meet with several military commanders and enlisted personnel during a visit to Womack this week to address my serious concerns. While there, we had the opportunity to discuss the problems at hand and I obtained information on what is being done to investigate and address the issues. Below you will find more information about my meeting with commanders at Womack.
I was also honored to speak at the Joint Special Operations Master of Arts (JSOMA) Graduation Tuesday on Fort Bragg. Over a ten-month period, students attend classes full-time to complete a rigorous 36-credit hour graduate program leading to a Master of Arts degree in Strategic Security Studies. I am confident the training, experience, and newly-honed skills have prepared these bright young men and women to serve our country.
In my continued push to prevent the president from inactivating the 440th Airlift Wing, I wrote an op-ed detailing my efforts thus far and how I’m still fighting. In this newsletter you will find my op-ed published in The Fayetteville Observer last week about these efforts.
Also this week, I visited Raleigh Endoscopy Center in Cary and Pfizer in Sanford and enjoyed talking to constituents and touring the facilities. Photos from these and my other visits can be found below under “Snapshots from the District.”
Good luck to Miss North Carolina, Olivia Olvera, when she competes in the Miss USA pageant tonight! Olivia is a constituent from Fayetteville (previously Miss Fayetteville USA), who focuses much of her work on military and veterans affairs. It was a pleasure to meet Olivia when she visited the Capitol in March.
It is an honor and a joy to serve the people of the second district. Please contact my office if we can be of assistance to you or if you have questions or concerns about these issues. I hope you will share this information by forwarding this email and using the social media tools in the right sidebar.
Meeting with Commanders at Womack
This week I visited Fort Bragg’s Womack Army Medical Center and met with the center’s new director, Col. Ronald Stephens and acting Fort Bragg commander, Maj. Gen. Clarence K. K. Chinn. While there, I participated in a roundtable lunch and discussion with Stephens and Chinn, as well as Womack’s enlisted staff and General John F. Campbell, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army and Lt. General Patricia Horoho, U.S. Army Surgeon General.
I released the following statement regarding our meeting:
“Yesterday afternoon, I had the honor of meeting with several military commanders and enlisted personnel at Fort Bragg’s Womack Army Medical Center to address my concerns regarding the healthcare and treatment of our troops. Last week’s reports of substandard care for our country’s warriors and veterans sent shockwaves throughout the Fort Bragg community and will require accountability and immediate solutions. I was pleased to meet Womack’s new director, Col. Ronald Stephens – who, along with General Chinn, General Campbell, and General Horoho, assured me that the ongoing investigation will be dealt with in a way that holds people accountable and uncovers solutions. We are all committed to working together to address all the issues that will lead to improved patient care and the highest quality for our military and their families.”
“The men and women of Womack are doing amazing things in spite of these recent shortfalls. While we are acutely aware of the shortcomings, it is important to note that every day, lives are saved and positively impacted due to the dedication of every healthcare provider and employee at Womack. I look forward to working with all of them to ensure that this standard of excellence will be evident to all.”
Protecting Fort Bragg’s 440th
In last Sunday’s Fayetteville Observer, I wrote about my efforts to protect Fort Bragg’s 440th Airlift Wing:
As the proud representative of Fort Bragg, I have the distinct privilege of representing more than 53,000 active-duty members and over 98,000 military retirees and their families. With more than a quarter of a million people living on or supported by Fort Bragg, I take it personally when outside agencies tread on Fort Bragg’s ability to carry out its operation or affect the livelihood of those living on post.
The president’s proposal to inactivate the 440th Airlift Wing is irresponsible at best. Furthermore, it will destroy jobs, hinder military readiness and adversely affect North Carolina’s economy. While the Department of Defense has repeatedly stated its need for flexibility, certainty and time, it reneged on this position the minute it proposed inactivating the 440th. I am disappointed in such a misguided decision that impacts the very unit responsible for supplying more than 1,200 jobs and furnishing nearly $80 million for our state economy.
After speaking with staff and members of the 440th, I understand how instrumental this unit is to the high-level training of both airborne and special operations forces. Over the past four years, the 440th has delivered more than 33 percent of Joint Airborne Air Transportability Training for Fort Bragg’s paratroopers, while providing accessibility and certainty that is simply unavailable to military installations elsewhere. Just this year, the Air Force (through the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force) called for more partnerships between active and reserve components – and the 440th Airlift Wing was highlighted as a model unit proving the benefits of this essential partnership.
Since the Defense Department announced its plans, I have fought relentlessly to save the 440th. In March, I submitted a letter detailing my deep concern over inactivating the 440th to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey. In April, I co-authored an appropriations request to a congressional committee that would prohibit funding from being used to “inactivate, relocate or disrupt the mission, personnel or aircraft of the 440th Airlift Wing.” I also testified before the House Armed Services Committee to convey my apprehensions on what this will mean for our service members stationed at the 440th.
This culminated in May when I introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit the military from closing the 440th Airlift Wing. Shortly after proposing this amendment, I testified before the Rules Committee on the necessity of preserving the 440th and later engaged in a colloquy with Armed Services Chairman McKeon on the House floor.
This fight is not over. I am drafting legislation to prevent the inactivation of the 440th and will carry on in my fight to protect this airlift wing. This legislation will draw on the numerous discussions I’ve had while working closely with military officials at Fort Bragg and the Department of Defense to find an alternative to closing the wing. While I understand that the department faces significant budgetary pressures, we should strive to make modifications without affecting the quality and frequency of training our nation’s heroes will receive.
We are eternally blessed to live in a country where people sacrifice their lives to protect the security of millions. I will continue to fight this misguided proposal in every way possible. It is my honor to stand up for the brave men and women who protect the freedoms we hold dear and demand responsible outcomes from those at the helm.
Snapshots from the District
Pictured above and below – photos from visit to Raleigh Endoscopy Center in Cary.
(Below) Gathering with some of the 522 Pfizer employees this afternoon at their Sanford facility to hear about the company, this site in particular, and their work with the community.
This week I enjoyed talking to Beau Minnick at WNCN (shown above) and Bill LuMaye (shown below) at the WPTF studio in Raleigh.
In the News
Ellmers meets with Womack, Army officials; visit follows shakeup in hospital leadership
Fayetteville Observer
Fort Bragg hosted Army leaders and an elected official Tuesday in response to last week’s shakeup at Womack Army Medical Center. Rep. Renee Ellmers, a Dunn Republican whose district includes Fort Bragg, met with post leaders and the hospital’s new commander, in addition to Army leaders from Washington. Ellmers met with Col. Ronald Stephens, who took charge of Womack after Col. Steven J. Brewster was relieved and three of his deputies were suspended last week. Maj. Gen. Clarence K. K. Chinn, acting commander of Fort Bragg, also attended the meeting.
Exclusive: Ellmers in Studio Discusses Womack Trip
NBC 17 WNCN
There’s a new commander at Womack Army Center. Congresswoman Renee Ellmers stopped by to share what the meeting was like. “I have every confidence after meeting with Colonel Stevens – he’s taking the bull by the horns.”
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers Visits Womack Medical Center
News 14 Carolina
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers is expressing her concerns about treatment at Fort Bragg’s Womack army medical center. She met with the center’s new director, Colonel Ronald Stephens and acting Fort Bragg commander, Major General Clarence Chinn yesterday afternoon. Ellmers spoke to them about her concerns and anger following reports of substandard care and mismanagement at the army’s medical centers. Colonel Stephens told her he is working to investigate and remedy the situation.
Ellmers Blasts Obama Over Fort Bragg Decision
The Shark Tank, Carolinas (Inaugural NC Edition)
Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) quickly responded in March by calling out the President’s decision and pushing to reverse it through the House appropriations process. Ellmers offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prevent the Defense Department moving forward with the deactivation of Fort Bragg’s 440th Airlift Wing. Ellmers also wrote directly to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey about the Fort Bragg deactivation. This weekend, Ellmers kept the pressure on with a strong op-ed in her district newspaper. Ellmers points out that the fight is not over but the impact of deactivation would be severe to Fort Bragg and all of North Carolina.
Columnist: Protecting Fort Bragg’s 440th
Op-Ed – The Fayetteville Observer
“As the proud representative of Fort Bragg, I have the distinct privilege of representing more than 53,000 active-duty members and over 98,000 military retirees and their families. With more than a quarter of a million people living on or supported by Fort Bragg, I take it personally when outside agencies tread on Fort Bragg’s ability to carry out its operation or affect the livelihood of those living on post.”
Shinseki resigns from VA amid hospital delay scandal, says he’d become ‘a distraction’
Raleigh News & Observer/ McClatchy
President Barack Obama announced on Friday that he had accepted Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki’s offer of resignation after determining that the political furor surrounding the growing VA scandal had become a distraction. Congressional reaction: Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., whose 2nd Congressional District includes Fort Bragg, said resolving the VA’s problems “will require a thorough review of how our government provides healthcare to our veterans and how officials can be pushed to promote excellence, accountability, innovation and efficiency.”
Last January, you supported House Republican leadership in granting legal status to illegal immigrants. What exactly is “legal status” and how does that differ from amnesty?
On an entirely different note, could you send me Miss Olvera’s telephone number?
One has to admire the inconsistency of all politicians. Here is a Republican House member who has pushed for cutting spending, cutting spending. Simpson-Bowles said one of the major pieces in our National Debt fight was cutting military spending. Here is a proposal to cut some military spending and this House member wants to fight for more spending. Simpson-Bowles is the only comprehensive plan to deal with the national debt and no one wants to follow it.