Help - Congress may cut military band funding - sign petition!

[John Morgan]

I am starting this thread and placing the contents of a message I received from an interested musician below:

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From the president of the Midwest Clinic International Band & Orchestra Conference:

Our Military Bands Need Your Help!

A Message from Our President:

Military bands in the United States have always played an integral part of our national history, dating back to July 11, 1798. The Washington D.C based bands and orchestras, along with the Coast Guard Band, represent the foundation of our artistic culture. These remarkable ensembles are truly the musical essence of “Americana” at its very best.

Presently our Congress is reviewing a suggested “bill” that would put these iconic groups in jeopardy. A mere savings of less than .01% of the military budget would strip our nation of its musical heartbeat.

The Midwest Clinic is asking your cooperation. Please sign the White House Petition asking our President to say NO on this bill. Please share your positive heartfelt support to guarantee the security and welfare of ALL of our military performance ensembles.

“The Stars and Stripes Forever” must remain FOREVER.

Richard Crain
President - Midwest Clinic

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Click this link to sign the petition: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pet...-bands-funding

[carbogast]

I signed the petition. We lost our Air Force Band stationed at Hanscom AFB a few years ago due to lack of funding; it was a sad thing. The author of the proposed budget amendment is Rep. Martha McSally of Arizona,
a retired United States Air Force Colonel. I was surprised to learn that; I assumed it would be coming from a civilian. Maybe some of you who have served can contact her office and speak of the cultural and other values of our
service bands.
-Carroll

[RickF]

I signed it too after seeing this alert on another forum.

[John Morgan]

I signed the petition. We lost our Air Force Band stationed at Hanscom AFB a few years ago due to lack of funding; it was a sad thing. The author of the proposed budget amendment is Rep. Martha McSally of Arizona,
a retired United States Air Force Colonel. I was surprised to learn that; I assumed it would be coming from a civilian. Maybe some of you who have served can contact her office and speak of the cultural and other values of our
service bands.
-Carroll

I am retired Army, and I noticed that too about Rep McSally. What in the world is she thinking? I tried contacting her, but alas, her office only accepts emails from people who live in her district in Arizona. That seems odd, but maybe not too odd. I wanted to give her a talking to.

[davewerden]

Here is a good take on the thing:

http://www.qconline.com/editorials/m...4668e7393.html

One point I have not seen raised directly is: what is our military defending? Our lives? Certainly. Our sovereignty? Sure. But aren't we also protecting our way of life? Military bands are part of that, since the time the nation was officially founded.

Playing ceremonies is important, for sure. Are you going to hire a civilian band to play where there are people attending who are under Secret Service protection? If so, who is going to manage all the background checks?

But my point has been that our nation spends obscene amounts of money on many things. The article above gets to some good comparisons there. How much do we spend to maintain/run the federal monuments and museums in Washington. But taxpayers only experience those directly if they can afford to travel to D.C. Military bands play all around the country. Families who can't afford to go to an orchestra concert can hear these bands for free in their home town or state. Isn't that part of our culture?

Why didn't the woman propose dumping the Blue Angels?

It's hard to put a value on encouraging patriotism and pride. These days, some in government, and some textbooks used in schools, seem to put more emphasis on our warts.

Most people recognize the value of a "date night" for married couples. It helps cement their relationship for a stronger family. I consider some of what our bands do to be a date night for our citizens. We need to nurture the relationship.

All the money she wants to save would run the military for something less than an hour.

[John Morgan]

Here is the poop straight out of the congressional record from June 16, 2016:

Ms. MCSALLY. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: At the end of the bill (before the short title), add the following new section: SEC. ll. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for performances by a military musical unit (as defined in section 974 of title 10, United States Code) described in paragraph (2)(B) or (3) of subsection (a) of such section. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 783, the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. MCSALLY) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Arizona. Ms. MCSALLY. Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman FRELINGHUYSEN and Ranking Member VISCLOSKY for all their hard work on this important bill. I rise today to offer an amendment to help us guide reprioritization of some defense spending. While I believe military bands play a very important role in ceremonies, funerals, honoring the fallen, and playing taps, this amendment simply limits their ability to play in social functions, dances, and things that are really outside their core competencies and the competencies of the military. Sequestration and 15 years of war have taken a very heavy toll on our military, and this bill is helping to turn that around. I appreciate the hard work on that. For example, in the air domain, with which I have some experience, we recently grounded one-third of our combat fighters for 3 months in the Air Force. The Air Force is facing a shortage of 4,000 maintainers for aircraft and 500 fighter pilots, and that shortage is expected to widen to 800 by 2022. Only half of the Air Force fighter pilots, including those that fly the F–22, are receiving the full spectrum of the training they require. Twenty-five years ago, we had 134 combat coded fighter squadrons; today, we have 55. And we had 946,000 total force military and civilian airmen. Well, today we have fewer than 660,000. The Navy and the Marine Corps are facing similar pilot and aircraft shortages. Our Army is drawing down to its smallest size since before World War II. Yet, today, we have 99 different Army bands. In fact, today these bands will play at 22 different shows worldwide. Most of these shows, the USO and civilian bands would love to fill the role of. At the same time, we have heard reports that we have a shortage of buglers—those who are playing taps—to honor our military when they are fallen. We have got to make sure that we have them represented so that those who have fallen and served receive the honors that they deserve. We should be recruiting warriors, but the Army Web site is targeting people to play music for a living. Don’t get me wrong; I believe the bands play an important role. Let me tell you, in my 26 years in the military, I used to be at Christmas parties with the wing commanders and generals, and we would have Active-Duty military entertaining us, and it bothered me then. We have difficult choices to make. We are spending, in FY15, $437 million on musicians’ instruments, uniforms, travel expenses, and we have seen reports of things like $11,000 flutes, $12,000 tubas, and $88,000 pianos. These are difficult choices that we have to make right now in this bill. Because of some of these concerns that we have had—I am on the Armed Services Committee—in this year’s NDAA, we asked for detailed information on the size and cost of all bands across the military. While we wait for this information, this amendment will inform the military that Congress desires them to use defense dollars on defense. Let’s be clear, this is not an attack on the arts. I am a vocalist myself. I care deeply about the arts. But we have to, again, make difficult choices in these bills. In no way do I want to devalue those who have served in the past in these roles or are serving now in these roles in our military bands, but for every dollar that is spent on our bands to entertain at social functions, that is a dollar we are not spending on national security, on our troops, and our families. Because of the shortage of maintainers, the Air Force is asking us to choose between things like air superiority and close air support. We need to do both. Some of our choices here are related to do we want to have aircraft parts funded or musical instruments. Again, these are difficult choices, but my amendment today simply limits the function of military bands so that they VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Jun 17, 2016 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A16JN7.009 H16JNPT1 emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with HOUSE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE H3933 June 16, 2016 can be performing those ceremonial duties, playing at military funerals, playing taps, those things that are very important roles for our military. While our communities certainly do enjoy being entertained by our military bands, they would, I think, prefer to be protected by our military. I urge everybody to support this amendment and make sure our money is spent well on defense and the bands are focused on their most crucial roles. I reserve the balance of my time. b 1115 Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from New Jersey is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support the gentlewoman’s amendment. As she has well said, military bands play a very important role in recruiting, retention, and community relations. They also provide patriotic and inspirational music to improve the morale of our soldiers, sailors, and airmen. All of us support these roles. Literally, such music makes our heart sing. However, I agree that we should consider prohibiting the use of funding for certain events. The bands play an important role during ceremonies recognizing the sacrifices of the fallen, but they are not appropriate at every event. I look forward to working with the gentlewoman as we approach conference to ensure that the language we include addresses the gentlewoman’s concerns. If the gentlewoman would agree to work with me and Mr. VISCLOSKY on this issue, I am sure we will be pleased to accept her amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time. Ms. MCSALLY. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the chairman for his support of the spirit of the amendment. I look forward to working with him and the ranking member to make sure that it is appropriately tightened up so that it meets the intent of the amendment, which I think we both agree upon. I appreciate his working with me on that. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. MCSALLY). The amendment was agreed to.

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I understand why someone would argue that dollars need to go first for troops, equipment, and training, but this Representative doesn't get it with military music dating back over two centuries. She clearly does not see the value it provides in those situations and places outside of strictly military ceremonies, how much it adds to the culture, patriotism, recruitment and a host of other things across the country and world. All I can say is, "She doesn't get it!" This is sad. It looks like the amendment passed through the House already. This is really, really sad. I don't like where we are going...

The link Dave provided above is also right on target.

[davewerden]

It's interesting how she thinks it is immoral for the band to play at this nice party, but didn't question the money spent on the nice party itself. That's not exactly bullets either.

[enhite]

Thanks John for the link to the petition. Of course I signed it. I hope that is circulates on all the wind instrument forums.

[Markmc611]

. This is the Congresswoman singing with a combined military/community band in Tucson, AZ.

I would love to have a video recording of this performance.

[John Morgan]

Here is section 974 of Title 10 United States Code:

10 U.S. Code § 974 - Military musical units and musicians: performance policies; restriction on performance in competition with local civilian musicians

(a) Military Musicians Performing in an Official Capacity.—
(1) A military musical unit, and a member of the armed forces who is a member of such a unit performing in an official capacity, may not engage in the performance of music in competition with local civilian musicians.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the following shall, except as provided in paragraph (3), be included among the performances that are considered to be a performance of music in competition with local civilian musicians:
(A) A performance that is more than incidental to an event that—
(i) is not supported, in whole or in part, by United States Government funds; and
(ii) is not free to the public.
(B) A performance of background, dinner, dance, or other social music at an event that—
(i) is not supported, in whole or in part, by United States Government funds; and
(ii) is held at a location not on a military installation.
(3) For purposes of paragraph (1), the following shall not be considered to be a performance of music in competition with local civilian musicians:
(A) A performance (including background, dinner, dance, or other social music) at an official United States Government event that is supported, in whole or in part, by United States Government funds.
(B) A performance at a concert, parade, or other event, that—
(i) is a patriotic event or a celebration of a national holiday; and
(ii) is free to the public.
(C) A performance that is incidental to an event that—
(i) is not supported, in whole or in part, by United States Government funds; or
(ii) is not free to the public.
(D) A performance (including background, dinner, dance, or other social music) at—
(i) an event that is sponsored by a military welfare society, as defined in section 2566 of this title;
(ii) an event that is a traditional military event intended to foster the morale and welfare of members of the armed forces and their families; or
(iii) an event that is specifically for the benefit or recognition of members of the armed forces, their family members, veterans, civilian employees of the Department of Defense, or former civilian employees of the Department of Defense, to the extent provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
(E) A performance (including background, dinner, dance, or other social music)—
(i) to uphold the standing and prestige of the United States with dignitaries and distinguished or prominent persons or groups of the United States or another nation; or
(ii) in support of fostering and sustaining a cooperative relationship with another nation.

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From what I understand of the amendment being attached to the Defense Appropriation Bill, this would disallow military bands from doing any of the items in paragraph (2)(B) or (3) of subsection (a). Interpretation of (3) will be the kicker.

[highpitch]

The old hide is not in my district, either...

Dennis

[John Morgan]

Dennis: Too bad!! She needs an earful. I can't believe SHE would come out with this amendment. That alone would be more than enough for me to be on the vote her out of office bandwagon. And I would have been on the vote her into office bandwagon BEFORE THIS just based on her ground-breaking U.S. Air Force service alone. And I am a retired Army officer. There are so many other places to cut, and in the case of the defense department (INCLUDING military music), it should be fully funded always and forever.

[davewerden]

I suppose the only recourse for those not living in her district, and who think she should leave, is to find out who is running against her and send donations their way.

[John Morgan]

.[ATTACH=CONFIG]4108[/ATTACH] This is the Congresswoman singing with a combined military/community band in Tucson, AZ.

I would love to have a video recording of this performance.

I would love to be able to send that picture to her with a few choice remarks!! Thanks for posting.