Veteran Service Recognition Act of 2022
Floor Speech
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Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I don't just rise in opposition to this bill, and I don't want to appear angry, but as a veteran who served both as an enlisted man and as an officer from 1970 until nearly 1990, I know what it is like to get an honorable discharge--not once but twice.
As an officer, I oversaw courts-martial. I know what it takes to get a bad conduct discharge. Shame on those who would write a bill and then refuse to allow a change that would at least prohibit those who are being discharged with bad conduct discharges.
Let's understand. Other than honorable is a nice term. Dishonorable is a clear term. If you murder your commanding officer, you get a dishonorable discharge. If you just try to, you will probably get a bad conduct discharge. If you are caught dealing vast amounts of drugs or you are an MS-13 person who lied to get into the military and you have gone AWOL, you might even get a general, but you certainly are going to get nothing worse than a bad conduct discharge.
The fact that this bill allows people with a bad conduct discharge, people who have been convicted of clear felonies, to gain and retain citizenship in the United States is reprehensible.
Let's understand something else. In times of peace, after 6 months of honorable service, you can apply and get your green card and get your citizenship. We have people who have served less than 2 years who get sworn in as U.S. citizens. So we are not even talking about people who wanted to be citizens and at the first opportunity chose to do that.
We are talking about people who didn't, who, now that they have been sent out of the United States--many of them, by the way, after their service for other crimes they committed--they now want to be able to come back here and be vindicated as though they did something right.
Military service is, in fact, an honorable event. And those who serve honorably, we want to make sure are paid with all of the thank yous, including citizenship for themselves and their family. This bill doesn't do it.
For all of us who are veterans, shame on those who would confuse honorable service, when, in fact, this bill allows those who have committed a felony, bad-conduct-discharged individuals, to retain their U.S. opportunity, one which has never been the case and shouldn't be the case. If you commit the crimes, you should not be an American--you didn't serve honorably.
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