Culbertson Cites Allegations of Ban on “God” and “Jesus” At Veterans’ Funerals
The Houston congressman heading the panel with jurisdiction over the Houston National Cemetery vowed Wednesday to "zero out" the salary of the cemetery director to force her dismissal by the Department of Veterans Affairs in an escalating dispute over alleged religious censorship at burial services.
Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee panel that handles financing for the cemetery, said he would use the pending $78 billion military construction appropriations legislation to eliminate director Arleen Ocasio's salary starting Oct 1.
Ocasio said she did not want to comment on Culberson's threatened action, adding, "Nobody has indicated anything to me about that."
The five-term lawmaker said he secretly attended a burial service July 8 at the 419-acre cemetery, where he heard members of a voluntary honor guard from Veterans of Foreign Wars District 4 and National Memorial Ladies describe alleged interference by cemetery officials in Christian recitations that included references to "God."
"I'm working aggressively behind the scenes to make sure that the person in charge of the cemetery is fired because she has been deliberately and repeatedly preventing families from having the VFW recitation said over their grave," Culberson said.
ocasio has over stepped and over reached. not good on her part. i "pray" culberson is successful in his attempt to get her removed. we DON'T need this in our public life......once again, not what our founders intended and NOT what we will accept.
ReplyDeleteit never seems to matter...what the people want. (sigh)
ReplyDelete