Fact #34: Chris Smith Voted Against Additional Dwell Time for our Troops

Fact #34: Chris Smith Voted Against Additional Dwell Time for our Troops

"Voters deserve to know why Chris Smith opposed granting our over-deployed troops adequate dwell time to rest with their friends and family."

For Immediate Release

Tuesday March 18, 2008

Contact: Steven D'Amico 609-668-1754

(Bordentown, NJ)-Chris Smith says that he wants to run on his record in Congress. Unfortunately, there are parts of his record that voters may find less than appealing.

Over the 35 weeks before Election Day we are counting down the 35 facts Chris Smith doesn't want you to know about his record. We'll be compiling the facts on our website, http://chrissmithfacts.blogspot.com/. 

This is the second week of our countdown.

This week is marks the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq. While the debate over the war is bound to continue for years, there should be no debate about giving our troops adequate periods of rest between deployments. Shockingly, President Bush and Chris Smith disagree.

In 2007, Chris Smith voted against "dwell time" legislation that would have extended the rest interval between deployments for our troops. Under the proposal, each serviceman and servicewoman would receive dwell time equal in the length to his or her most recent deployment. [HR 3159, Vote #796, 8/2/07]

Troops currently face extended deployments with insufficient dwell time to rest with their families and friends, retrain, and re-equip before they are redeployed. The Army recommends two days of dwell time for each day spent in a combat zone, but some brigades receive less than a year to rest and re-train after serving 15 months. The negative impacts of the policy include rising mental health problems among service members and falling retention rates. According to Army officials, the lack of dwell time is unsustainable and has stretched the military "to the breaking point." [Washington Post Sept 26, 2007. Sen. Webb Statement 7/9/07, Economist June 30, 2007] 

"Before veterans are veterans, they are servicemen and servicewomen. Voters deserve to know why Chris Smith opposed granting our over-deployed troops adequate dwell time to rest with friends and family," said Josh Zeitz campaign manager Steve D'Amico.

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