(Compiled by the Office of the Speaker)

• U.S. troops killed: 4,017
  [Defense Department, 4/8/08]
• U.S. troops wounded: 29,676
  [Defense Department, 4/8/08]
• U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since September 2001: Nearly 1.7 million
  [Defense Department, 2/29/08]
• U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan more than once: More than 599,000
  [Defense Department, 2/29/08]
• U.S. servicemembers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan who have children: 782,000
  [Defense Department, 2/29/08]
• Percentage of these troops who have been deployed more than once: 40
  [Defense Department, 2/29/08]
• Percent of current and former military officers who believe the Iraq war has “stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin:” 88%
  [Foreign Policy/Center for New American Security, 2/19/08]
• Percent of these officers who say the U.S. military is weaker than it was five years ago: 60%
  [Foreign Policy/Center for New American Security, 2/19/08]
• Percent of U.S. troops that have served in Iraq or Afghanistan at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.): 20%
  [USA Today, 3/6/08]
• Amount the United States is spending on the war in Iraq every month: $10.3 billion
  [Congressional Research Service, 2/22/08]

The Cost of Iraq War Broken Down

Second: $3,919
Minute: $235,160
Hour: $14.1 million
Day: $338.6 million
Week: $2.4 billion
Month: $10.3 billion
Year: $123.6 billion

[Congressional Research Service, 2/22/08]

Iraq War veteran and AFSCME member David Watchous talks to reporters about the need to fully fund veteran provisions in the labor-HHS funding bill. Watchous is a corrections officer at the Topeka Corrections Facility in Topeka, KS.

Congress has a lot on its plate now that it’s back in session. And one of the most important priorities for AFSCME members is a bill that funds the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education – or the Labor-HHS bill.

For months, AFSCME and partner organizations, through the Emergency Campaign for America’s Priorities, have been putting pressure on Members of Congress to pass this bill. It would begin to reinvest our tax dollars in vital services for regular Americans – things like child care, education and job training. In July, the House overwhelmingly passed the bill – despite a threat from President Bush to veto it.

The bill also provides funding for homelessness prevention and mental health services for American veterans. And that’s why AFSCME veterans have been coming out in full force across the country calling on their senators to follow the House’s lead.

Click these links for a small sample of press coverage from our events in Indiana, Oregon and Kansas:

• Indiana Veterans Calling for Lugar’s Support (WISH-TV)
• Indiana Vets Call for More Health Care for Soldiers
(WTHR-TV)
• Vets Call on Senator Smith (1190 KEX-AM)
• Military Suicide Rate Highest in 26 Years… Vets Urge Support (WIBW-TV)
• Vietnam Veterans Urge Senators to Pass Mental Health Funding (KBSD-TV)