http://www.cbs5az.com/story/34550515/government-bills-arizona-veteran-for-14000 Ashley Christopher served our nation faithfully for a total of 10 years, including two twelve month deployments in the middle east. After fulfilling her enlistment term, Ashley was honorably discharged in early 2015. She recently received a letter from the Department of the Treasury demanding repayment of her $15,000 reenlistment bonus because, apparently changing jobs (involuntarily — from military police to systems operator), meant she did not fulfill the terms of her contract. Ashley is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Social Work. She works full-time at a local homeless shelter rehousing homeless veterans. She will have to sell her home to repay her debt since she cannot afford to pay her mortgage while the Treasury garnishes 1/3 of her already low income. In a cruel twist of irony, Ashley is now faced with the prospect of becoming a homeless veteran herself. Due to the significant decrease in her credit score (the Treasury immediately reported collection), she will not qualify for a new mortgage or a decent apartment. Former members of the California National Guard were faced with this same issue. Due to significant media coverage, their plight was brought to the attention of Congress. Multiple bills were introduced which would have provided relief from this type of aggressive debt collection to all veterans. However, the issue was ultimately remedied through an NDAA provision (Subtitle F Section 671) which exclusively addressed the California National Guard, thus allowing the Pentagon to continue their aggressive debt collection tactics.

Haven't see this issue addressed yet, and the exchanges between these two miscreants should be of great concern to all US (and Russian?) citizens.

On February 14, 2017, it was reported on MSNBC that a congressional seat held by Tom Price of Georgia will soon be up for grabs in a special election. It was stated that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is not taking advantage of the opportunity to win this seat. We are fighting to bring honesty, integrity, loyalty and democracy back; important components of our democracy extinguished by the Trump Administration. We the people need the DNC to step up and take action now! We need the DNC to come out swinging, by making a concerted and collective effort to regain the House and the Senate, one seat at a time. DNC, the time is now to act. The time is now to organize. The time is now to fight and reclaim democracy!

House Resolution 21 will be voted on soon to direct the Commandant of the Marine Corps to officially state that the Marines of Fox Company were completely not at fault for the ambush and fire fight on 4 March 2007 in Bati Kot, Afghanistan. These Marines continue to suffer by being denied military promotions, being involuntarily forced from their military service and being denied civilian jobs due to the unjust stigma of these false allegations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DiFwM7_k0M

Congressional recess is February 18-26, and Representative Dave Reichert has not scheduled an in-person town hall meeting during that time. The Facebook Live event that he has planned will certainly not allow us, his constituents, the chance to adequately share our concerns with him. Those of us who are not active Facebook users are especially at a loss. Please sign and remind him that he works for us, and we deserve the chance to talk with him in person.

We expect President Trump plan for overhauling the tax system any day now. We are calling on lawmakers to disregard the administration's recommendations unless we are provided with the president's tax returns. We have every right to know how such new tax rules would impact the president personally, especially as he maintains control of his businesses.

We want to speak with Devin Nunes regarding issues we feel are critical in government now. He is in recess and we would like a Town Hall meeting in Fresno with him on attendance. As his constituents we believe this is important and due us. We'd like this meeting during this week's recess.

Donald Trump's Muslim ban has been rightly blocked by several courts throughout the country, yet another version of the Muslim ban could be released as early as this week. [1] The chaos that ensued at borders when the initial ban was implemented showed a complete breakdown of civil liberties and common human decency. People were denied access to their legal counsel, mothers were separated from their infant children, and people were kept at the airport for dozens of hours without access to any food or facilities. Senator Kamala Harris, along with several of her colleagues, just introduced legislation that seeks to reverse some of the more heinous acts happening at our borders due to Trump's policies. The legislation would guarantee access to legal counsel, require access to an attorney before they can relinquish their legal status, and have basic needs met while being held (like being able to use the restroom). [2] It is time for the Senate to affirm the civil liberties we hold dear and restore common human decency by supporting this bill. Sources: 1. "Donald Trump's Revised Travel Ban Would Cover Seven Countries From Prior Order," The Washington Post, February 18, 2017 https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-weighs-travel-ban-that-allows-in-green-card-holders-ensures-those-in-transit-aren-t-caught-in-system-1487438347 2. "Sen. Kamala Harris pushes to guarantee access to legal counsel for those detained upon entry to the U.S.," The L.A. Times, February 9, 2017 http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-sen-kamala-harris-pushes-for-right-to-1486678257-htmlstory.html

TV shows like Gold Rush are pissing me off and its disgusting seeing the landscape torn up and we keep ruining the ecosystem by doing these stupid things. Enouph is enough. Native American people should be the only ones allowed to gold mine, period. If we are going to use fossil fuel then we should at least give that up. We need the forests and this destruction is out of control. I personally am tired of seeing these selfish people making millions of dollars on TV and the forest suffers as a result. They basically get rewarded for bad behavior. I have had enough. They're greedy and need to be stopped.

The President's Day recess is traditionally a time for congressman to meet with their constituents in-district, with town halls being the best forum to address the concerns of a large number of constituents. Congressman Panetta has not yet scheduled a town hall in Santa Cruz in his time representing the 20th district, even though Santa Cruz is, by far, the biggest city in the district. The congressman must take advantage of his time in the 20th to hold a town hall in Santa Cruz.

Rep Carter has served EIGHT terms serving special interest, Republican party and wealthy donors. He's served unchallenged, ignoring the concerns of constituents he deems unimportant. Let's show him he works for all of us. Please sign.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers has not responded to phone calls, letters, emails and request for holding town hall meeting from vast numbers of vast numbers of her constituents. Enough is enough! She needs to come out of hiding and listen to her constituents. We need to hold our Cathy accountable! She works for us!