Aptil 17, 2015

MOAA council and chapter presidents from all 50 states, accompanied by members of the national board of directors and headquarters staff, plus members of MOAA’s Currently Serving Advisory Council, Currently Serving Spouse Advisory Council, and Auxiliary Member Advisory Committee stormed Capitol Hill April 15 and visited nearly all 535 senators and representatives in support of key legislative priorities.

Stormers met with their legislators to discuss key military personnel issues that affect the stability of the all-volunteer force and well-being of military families.

MOAA stormers asked their elected officials to:

• Sustain military pay and benefits;
• Reject disproportional TRICARE fee increases that shift costs onto beneficiaries while reducing access;
• Eliminate harmful sequestration cuts, which threaten national security; and
• Address remaining inequities for disabled retirees, survivors, and recalled Guard and Reserve personnel.

Hill-stormers’ personal efforts were bolstered by a full-page ad in The Hill newspaper on Wednesday sponsored by MOAA and our partner PenFed Credit Union.

We were gratified at members’ response to the alert we sent last Friday asking you to support this effort by emailing your legislators. MOAA members sent nearly 18,000 messages to Capitol Hill, and many legislators and staffers referenced the messages during their meetings with the MOAA stormers.

The daylong event culminated with a dinner for MOAA Council and Chapter leaders and their spouses, featuring keynote speaker Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Retired Air Force Gen. Charles Robertson, chairman of MOAA’s board of directors, introduced Chairman Thornberry and closed the evening by thanking the stormers who had taken to Capitol Hill earlier that day to engage their congressional representatives.