Excerpt
SUMMARY: The new Congress has the fewest military veterans since World War II, but recent veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are on the rise. What priorities do they bring to Capitol Hill? Judy Woodruff talks to Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., a former Air Force colonel and pilot, and Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., a retired Marine captain.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Now to a different look at Capitol Hill.
This new Congress has the fewest military veterans since World War II. In the years following, through the 1970s, as many as three-quarters of the members of Congress were veterans. But that started to drop after Vietnam, falling sharply in the ’90s, and bringing us to today, where only 18 percent have served in the military.
One element, however, has gone up, the number of recent veterans. Nearly half have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And for the first time, there are no World War II vets.
Yesterday, I spoke with two newly elected recent veterans.
Republican Representative Martha McSally of Arizona is a retired Air Force colonel and pilot who led fighter squadrons in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Democratic Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts is a retired Marine captain who served four tours in Iraq, including in a unit that was one of the first to go in, in 2003.
QUESTION: Will this mean more couched/better decisions, or more gun-ho decisions?
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