Ted Lieu's Five Years Doing Nothing for Veterans

By Robert L. Rosebrock —— Bio and Archives--November 21, 2019

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Fellow Veterans and Friends of Veterans:

Tonight at 7 PM, (PST) Congressman Ted Lieu is holding a public “VA Homelessness Meeting” at his second-floor office at 1625 Corinth Avenue, West Los Angeles, CA 90025.

On February 20, 2015, nearly five years ago and three weeks after the infamous VA “settlement agreement” was signed, newly elected U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu sent the attached invitation letter to attend his swearing-in ceremony as the replacement to Henry Waxman who served nearly four decades in the 33rd District.

Congressman Lieu proclaimed: “This is an amazing district, with beautiful coastlines, mountains, and many of Southern California’s signature industries, such as biotech, aerospace, technology, tourism, and entertainment.”

• No mention that within this amazing 33rd District, he is responsible and entrusted to oversee the biggest and arguably the most corrupt VA in the nation.
• No mention about what he was going to do to end the corruption.
• No mention that Los Angeles is our nation’s capital for homeless Veterans.
• No mention what he was going to do to end Veteran homelessness.
• No mention that on August 26, 2013 as a result of the ACLU lawsuit, a federal Judgment was entered against the Los Angeles VA for engaging in nine real estate deals with third-party non-Veteran entities that were adjudicated as “unauthorized by law and therefore void.”
• No mention that one of the nine illegal occupants is UCLA’s baseball diamond, even though his swearing-in ceremony was being held at UCLA.
• No mention that on January 28, 2015, just a few weeks prior to his swearing-in that then VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald and non-Veteran, wealthy and powerful attorney Ron Olson mutually signed the counterfeit settlement agreement with the #1 promise to “end Veteran homelessness in Los Angeles by the end of 2015 and beyond.”

• No mention that the newly elected Congressman once worked for Ron Olson’s law firm, Munger, Tolles & Olson.
• No mention about how the newly elected Congressman was going to enforce the settlement agreement and eradicate crime and corruption at the Los Angeles VA by evicting the illegal occupants and ending Veteran homelessness as promised in the settlement agreement.
• No mention of Enhanced Use Leases (EULs) in the entire settlement agreement—not once—yet Congressman Lieu along with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein co-authored a bogus bill using EULs to make all the adjudicated illegal leases to be “legal” for their wealthy and powerful non-Veteran cronies to continue illegally staying on Veterans VA land. 

In fact, Congressman Lieu never once mentions the word Veteran or the VA in his entire swearing-in invitation.

But he does acknowledge “this amazing district, with beautiful coastlines, mountains, and many of Southern California’s signature industries, such as biotech, aerospace, technology, tourism, and entertainment.”

That’s because these are the people from whence he gets his campaign money, not from destitute and homeless Veterans.

For nearly five years, Congressman Lieu has shamefully failed our disabled Veterans and their land that he is entrusted to protect and serve, first and foremost.

Instead, he has served the neighboring wealth and power that are illegally on VA property, including private Brentwood School’s sport complex, UCLA’s baseball diamond, L.A. City’s “rent free” public dog park, Brentwood Village’s two-year, rent-free public parking lot and extended privileged use at far-below market rate, a private oil drilling operation on VA land a few hundred feet from VA Wadsworth Hospital where Veterans are healing from their war injuries. Congressman Lieu opposes offshore oil drilling but supports on-premise oil drilling on VA property.

Again, Congressman Lieu has shamefully failed our Veterans that he is entrusted to protect and serve, first and foremost.

Also attached is my response to the Congressman’s 2015 invitation since I could not attend because at the same time of his swearing-in ceremony, we were holding our 363rd consecutive Sunday Rally to “Save Our Veterans Land” and to “Bring Our Homeless Veterans HOME.”

In my response to Congressman Lieu, I invited him … “Please stop by after your swearing in ceremony and join fellow Veterans, and let’s talk about the fact that Los Angeles is in a “state of emergency” and discuss working together with the City of LA and the VA to unify and open a large-scale Crisis Humanitarian Relief Project on this land to immediately house and care for thousands upon thousands of disabled homeless Veterans.”

He did not stop by,  nor did he ever contact me thereafter.

There’s interesting irony regarding his swearing-in invitation and my response to it … Neither of us have changed our positions.

Congressman Lieu has done absolutely nothing to resolve the VA’s rampant crime and corruption nor has he done anything to end Veteran homelessness in Los Angeles, while the Old Veterans Guard remains staunch and committed to “open a large-scale Crisis Humanitarian Relief Project on this land to immediately house and care for thousands upon thousands of disabled homeless Veterans.”

In sum, it will certainly be interesting to hear what Congressman Lieu’s “VA Homelessness Meeting” is all about this evening. Nothing has changed with us.

God Bless America and the Veterans Revolution!

Rosebrock is a U.S. Army Veteran, Vietnam War-era, HQ USARHAW, Schofield Barracks. He is Director of the Veterans Revolution and the Old Veterans Guard.