Military families should not be going hungry

At this time of the year, we’re eager to celebrate all that we are thankful for, trimming down the turkey population to prepare for a big feast. However, it’s also the time of year when we hear about those less fortunate, with many of them unable to afford the basic food necessities we all take for granted. Usually it’s folks who have lost their employment or who have lost their home to fire, flood or some other tragedy.

You wouldn’t suspect that some of those people are our men and women in uniform. I certainly didn’t, until I read an Associated Press story that said as many as 160,000 active-duty members of our military are having trouble feeding their families, according to Feeding America. According to the organization, about 29% of those in the junior enlisted ranks faced food insecurity, although there have not been any formal studies on the issue.

There is also some rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that prevents needy military families from accessing food stamps. Apparently, military families who live off base receive a basic allowance for housing to help cover rent, utilities and other things. However, that allowance counts as income in calculating food stamp eligibility, according to the 2008 Food and Nutrition Act.

Couple that with the reality that military life involves frequent relocation around the country, which makes it difficult for military spouses to secure steady employment, and I can’t help but wonder what kind of raw deal the federal government is giving the folks who sacrifice to defend our freedom. We’re asking them to fight our enemies, potentially losing life and limb, and yet we can’t make sure that the families being left behind are getting enough food to eat?

I’ve long criticized how our country treats those who give up much to put on the uniform and defend us from harm. The broken veterans administration system has kept our great heroes waiting for medical and mental services often to the point where they die without getting the help they need. That’s bad enough, but knowing that the Pentagon and Congress have not developed something where the people who serve can supply their families with essential food while they do their duty just makes my blood boil.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat in Illinois who had been a Blackhawk pilot before losing both of her legs in a helicopter crash in Iraq, spoke in the AP story about the United States having the mightiest military in the world, but we’ve got lower ranking military members who have to worry about carrying out their missions while simultaneously wondering if their family is going to be able to eat that night.

“It’s one of these things that the American people don’t know about, but it’s a matter of course among military members. We know this,” Duckworth said, according to AP.

If we know this, then why aren’t we doing something about this? More specifically, why isn’t Congress doing something about this? The fat cats on Capitol Hill are prattling on about whether the 2020 election is legit, arguing about how to pay for needed infrastructure in our country or preaching that Republicans or Democrats — depending on what day of the week it is — are going to send this country directly to hell. They should be focusing on this country’s needs, and ensuring the families of our military have enough to eat is a need.

This would seem like an issue that Rep. Mike Gallagher, who ran for office touting his time in the military, should be jumping on. Gallagher has preached the need for a strong military and the need to shore up national security. How can our men and women in uniform focus on what needs to be done to protect our country knowing that the families back home are having to turn to food pantries and the kindness of strangers to feed themselves? If he was wise, he’d be gathering up his fellow Republicans and reaching across the aisle to the Democrats to pass legislation fixing this travesty.

Come to think of it, there’s nothing saying that folks on Capitol Hill who have never served in uniform shouldn’t be leading the charge. Sens. Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin could be heroes in their own right if they crafted legislation to correct this issue or at least led the rallying cry on the Senate floor if one of their colleagues develop a solution. Instead of being in the chorus of preaching their party lines, Johnson and Baldwin could stand out and solve what should be an easy problem.

This is the land of the free, because of the brave. The spouses and children provide strength to those brave men and women. We should be providing strength to those families by making sure they’re well-fed, and it’s inexcusable that those families should need to scrounge for food in what is supposed to be a land of plenty. We just finished expressing our gratitude to veterans and are about to embark on another holiday where we give thanks for having enough food to eat. This should not be happening.

The federal government created this problem. It needs to fix it — now.

Lee Pulaski is the city editor for NEW Media. Readers can contact him at lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com.