October 2023 |
Newsletter |
VOL. 3, NO. 10 |
To view in PDF, click here
“My Administration is committed to realizing the promise of the suffragists, who knew that equality begins at the ballot box and requires women to have a seat at the table. That is why we will keep fighting to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act to ensure fair Congressional maps give all Americans an equal chance to be heard. It is also why I have delivered on my promise to build an Administration that looks like America — with courageous leaders like Vice President Kamala Harris and the record number of women who serve in our Nation’s first gender-equal Cabinet leading the way. I have also appointed more Black women to Federal appellate courts — including the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — than all prior Presidents combined. And I established the White House Gender Policy Council to advance gender equity and equality across all domestic and foreign policy.
…I call upon the people of the United States to celebrate and continue to build on our country’s progress toward gender equality and to defend and strengthen the right to vote.” –President Joseph R. Biden Jr., A Proclamation on Women's Equality Day, 2023
100 years ago, a brave group of women volunteered to fight
for their country-even before they had the right to vote.
National Archives photo
Editor’s Message
Greetings. It is incomprehensible that in 2023, we are still discussing gender equality and that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) still has not been published as the 28th amendment of the Constitution although in January 2020 all the Constitutional requirements were met when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it.
What are we waiting for? Contact your Members of Congress now and urge them to publish ERA! It was first introduced in Congress in 1923! Let’s get this done in 2023!
Contact the Biden Administration to request that the Archivist publish ERA.
Contact your Representatives to support HJRes 25 and HJRes 82 and your Senators to support SJRes 4 and SJRes 39 and to vote against SJRes 107.
Do you know who the Hello Girls are and how they fought for our country over a hundred years ago before they even had the right to vote? General Pershing himself requested that women take over the communications sector during WWI because they were quicker than the male contingent and every second was a matter of life or death. Yet, because they were women, the Department of War denied them veteran status — including benefits, medical care, commendations, honorable discharges, military funerals, even the right to wear their uniforms.The Army classified them as contract workers and told them they had been very well paid and didn’t need to worry about being classified as veterans. "Every word of Pershing's order implied military service without stating it." So, the government hid behind this until 1977 when an order was signed by President Jimmy Carter granting full veterans status to the few surviving Hello Girls. “It's an abiding irony of American military history that one poorly communicated order kept the very soldiers tasked with communicating orders from receiving, for six long decades, the recognition they deserved.”
100 Years On, The 'Hello Girls' Are Recognized For World War I Heroics
“Hello Girls” – Women Telephone Operators during WWI – The Unwritten Record
Hello Girls' Kept World War I Communications Humming
The Hello Girls' Chronicles The Women Who Fought For America And For Recognition
What can we do now? Support a Congressional Gold Medal for the WWI Hello Girls!
Contact your Members of Congress. Bring it home this year!
"I deserve this medal not just for serving in France, but for fighting the U.S. Army for 60 years and winning.'"
–Merle Egan, one of the surviving Hello Girls in 1977
In closing, our warmest wishes and deepest gratitude to President Jimmy Carter, US Navy Veteran, for his 99th Birthday on October 1st. Lieutenant James Earl Carter Jr., USN There is still time to send your virtual birthday greetings!
Terese Sarno
Editor
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Graduation of Jimmy Carter from U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. Rosalynn Smith (Carter) and his mother Lillian Carter pinning on his ensign bars, June 5, 1946. National Archives. NAID: 6340631. |
Please join our caucus to show your support for the U.S. military!
ADVOCACY
Military Postal Service -The Department of Defense continues its fiscal law and Host Nation Agreement MPS review. Expected completion date: 2nd Qtr, FY24, expected decision: 3rd Qtr, FY 24. In the interim, MPS support continues for overseas patrons.
Resources for Aging Veterans -Veterans Health Library
Veterans Benefits Banking Program (VBBP)
Military Spouse Entrepreneur Guide Stars and Stripes
Making Sure Your TSP Beneficiary Forms Are Accurate and Complete
Five tips on how to engage with homeless Veterans
Consumer Product Safety Commission album on common young adult hazards
From the Voter Assistance Training Team:
We're pleased to announce that the new & revamped Voter Assistance Training materials are now available!
With the pivotal 2024 election year coming up, every DA volunteer needs to have a basic understanding of the rules for voting from abroad so we can help US citizens whenever and wherever voting questions arise.
Sign up here for training if you are interested in helping with voter assistance.
Training is for both new and experienced volunteers as voting information has changed considerably over the last few election cycles.
- We're starting with "Voter Registration & Ballot Request" -- it has all the information a voting assistance volunteer needs for in-person voting events, guide voters through filling out and submitting their FPCA forms using www.VoteFromAbroad.org, how to spot difficult issues and get answers/help.
- Additional training will also be available for "Ballot Receipt & Return." This training is for those who wish to have more advanced training and wish to staff the Zoom Rooms and Voter Helpdesk (Intercom).
Request your absentee ballot! Register to vote!
‘My Vote Was Rejected’: Trial Underway in Texas Over New Voting Law
Republican groups sue New York, governor over absentee voting
Rural Gen Zers in 2024? Here's what some think so far.
Rural voters lean red, young voters lean blue. So what's a young, rural voter to do?
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“This country is too precious”: |
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talks with Rachel Maddow about how the Republican Party can move on from Donald Trump and how the U.S. broadly can recover from the damage of the Trump era to rebuild beginning at the community level.
“I don’t feel any satisfaction. I feel great profound sadness that we have a former president who has been indicted for so many charges that went right to the heart of whether or not our democracy would survive.”
“He used tactics, harassment, intimidation, he made threats, he and his allies went after state officials, local officials responsible for conducting elections. Now we know they even went into voting machines in order to determine whether or not those voting machines had somehow been breached when they were the ones actually doing the breaching.
“So there is a great deal already in the public record … Clearly this investigation has been very thorough. But I don’t know that anybody should be satisfied with this. This is a terrible moment for our country to have a former president accused of these terribly important crimes.” –Hillary Rodham Clinton
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
A Fitting Final Gift From Jimmy Carter
The U.S. and Iran swap prisoners and Iran gets access to frozen oil money
Biden is creating a new White House office focused on gun violence prevention
The state elections to watch now for clues about what to expect in 2024
President Biden on Historic Action to Lower Prescription Drug Costs
US air base in Italy cuts medical care for DOD civilians and families, citing costs
The Navy’s recovery from Tuberville’s hold on military promotions will take years
3M agrees to pay $6 bln to settle lawsuits over US military earplugs
A federal court throws out Alabama's congressional map again
Redistricting court orders could help Democrats win back the House in 2024
Why the UAW is fighting so hard for these 4 key demands
AFN will livestream and broadcast NFL games for service members overseas
The app, available to overseas U.S. service members, families, military retirees and Defense Department civilians, is free to download on Google and Apple devices, Amazon Fire, Roku and select smart TVs. Register at https://afn-now.myafn.mil/.
Contact AFN Now help desk at [email protected].
US military dependents in Italy finally can work remotely for US employers
Dependents in Italy with missione visa now authorized to telework to U.S. employers
Dependents with questions: email: [email protected]
OCTOBER
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October 1 – 39th President of the United States Jimmy Carter’s 99th birthday
October 3, 1990 – 11 months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, East and West Germany became one state
What Happened the Day the Berlin Wall Fell
October 8 – Ms. Veteran America Pageant 2023 (Registration for 2024 opens in January 2024)
October 9 – Columbus Day
October 10 – 4 p.m. Kentucky voter registration deadline
(Ballot request deadline: October 31, 2023, 5pm – Ballot return deadline: Must be received by November 7, 2023 at 6pm–Mail only)
October 13 – U.S. Navy (USN) 248th Birthday
October 14 - DA VMF Caucus Meeting WebEx link 14:00 EDT
October 26 – Day of the Deployed
October 27 – Navy Day
October 30 – Start of 10th annual National Veterans Small Business Week
October 31 – VFW Youth Scholarships deadline
Upcoming DA Activities
WHAT’S CONGRESS UP TO?
Congress is back from summer recess. Here's what's on the agenda
H.R.4569 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Veteran Service Recognition Act of 2023
To provide benefits for noncitizen members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
Support a Congressional Gold Medal for the WWI Hello Girls!
Tester, Moran, Hassan, Blackburn Lead Bipartisan Effort to Honor the ‘Hello Girls’
H.R. 1831, S. 2861 Congressional Gold Medal proposed for Billie Jean King
Contact your Members of Congress! Ask your elected leaders to support the bill by signing this national action alert.
Senate bucks Tuberville's blockade to begin approving military promotions
Senate confirms Army chief of staff and Marine Corps commandant…
'Unfair Burden': Tuberville Blockade on Promotions Is Stressing Military Families
Hundreds of photos of blocked military nominees line Senate lawn …
States move to stop taking Social Security checks from foster children
H.R.5432 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Tax Simplification for Americans Abroad Act
Beyer, Titus Introduce Tax Simplification for Americans Abroad Act
What can you do? Contact your Members of Congress now!
Obstacles in contacting your Members of Congress: Request for a US address, but you don't have a US address. What should you do? Use the last US address you lived at. Even if it was 40 years ago, that is still your last US address and you are still a constituent of that state and district! Request for a US phone number, but you don't have one. What should you do? Put all zeros. The phone number is a formality required to vet constituents. Send another message about this topic.
VETERANS’ ISSUES
Health:
US air base in Italy cuts medical care for DOD civilians and families, citing costs
In a briefing with teachers on Sept. 12, 2023, Air Force Col. Jeffrey Fewell, commander of the 31st Medical Group at Aviano Air Base, Italy, spoke about a policy adopted 11 days earlier that halts treatment of paying patients at the base clinic.
Live Whole Health #183: Checking in with yourself through Body Scan Meditation
Live Whole Health #184: Using the senses to experience mindfulness
Live Whole Health #185: Hello body!
Live Whole Health #186: Slowing down with an introduction to Qigong
Education:
Education Guide | Stars and Stripes
2023 Fall Education Guide for service members and their families includes tips on transitioning to college life; the GI Bill and other financial assistance; advice for military spouses pursuing higher education; profiles of student service members and more.
From WWII to Wimbledon: Test pilot-turned-tennis champ Vic Seixas is turning 100
A Vietnam veteran pilot receives the Medal of Honor for a daring rescue
Army veteran will be first woman to serve as VA’s second-in-command
Click here for our Spotlight JFK’s State Visit to Berlin
Click here for our Podcast & Social Media Recommendations
Click here for our Poetry Corner
Click here for our Film and Book Recommendations
Click here for our Brain-Zone Quiz
Click here for our Educational Resources
Click here for our Virtual Museum
GLOBAL VMF CAUCUS MEETINGS
The Global VMF Caucus Steering Committee meets once a month.
All Democrats Abroad members are welcome to attend.
WebEx link for October 14 at 14:00 EST.
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SUGGESTION BOX |
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Please join our caucus to show your support for the U.S. military!
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Editor: Terese Sarno (Germany) |
Veterans and Military Families Caucus Chair: Kee Adams Evans (Guatemala) |
“Are we alone to ask and take the utmost that our women can give and still say we do not see what title that gives them to stand by our sides in the guidance of the affairs of their nation and ours?
We have made partners of the women in this war. Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of privilege and rights? This war could not have been fought if it had not been for the services of the women, services rendered in every sphere wherever men have worked and upon the very skirts and edges of the battle itself.”
–Woodrow Wilson, September 30, 1918