Vets' preference

Washington Monthly, Dec, 2003 by William M. Burke

As Charles Peters noted in "Tilting at Windmills," people with past military service are rare not only among the members of Congress but also among their family members. But there may be a cure--institute a veterans preference system (the type we vets used to get civil-service jobs after World War II) for high elected and appointive offices. A veterans' preference of, say, 7 percentage points in congressional elections would do wonders for our enlistment figures, and it would forestall such scandalous situations as last year's ejection of disabled veteran Max Cleland from the Senate or the lack of military experience among White House officials who so cavalierly sent our troops to overseas wars. Of course, no preference would be given to those who served in draft-dodging outfits such as the Texas Air National Guard.

William M. Burke

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