Tillis Shamelessly Using Veterans to Push Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – What’s in a name? Well, when it comes to legislation filed on Capitol Hill, a name can mean a lot. Take, for instance, the VALOR Act, filed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and North Carolina’s perennially disappointing Senator, Thom Tillis.

The ‘VALOR’ term here stands for Veteran Apprenticeship and Labor Opportunity Reform. As with the Patriot Act, or the Affordable Care Act, the bill sponsors have named their legislation in such a way so as to head off any opposition to the bill for fear of being labeled as against a popular group or goal.

There was little for freedom loving Americans to view as patriotic in the Patriot Act, and we all know now that the Affordable Care Act was anything but affordable. Similarly, the VALOR Act does not have as much to do with veterans as Traitor Thom Tillis would have you think.

The bill itself seems harmless at first glance. It would do away with making employers who have apprenticeship programs in different states having to register that program in each state in which they operate. Instead a single registration would suffice, federalizing such workforce programs that typically vary state to state.

Here’s Tillis’ official line on the bill:

“Hiring veterans in the private sector should be as easy as possible, and Congress needs to do its part to increase opportunities for veterans in our workforce. It is unnecessary to force businesses to register in every state of operation, and the VALOR Act is commonsense legislation that will reduce this burdensome requirement so apprenticeship programs will be more accessible to veterans.”

How could you oppose that? Why are you against veterans? Well, one former Marine running for the N.C. House thinks Tillis is shamelessly using veterans to promote a bill that has little to do with veterans in the bigger picture.

Glen Bradley, a constitutional conservative running for the District 7 N.C. House seat, called Tillis out on Facebook.

“This bill is cynically using the word “Veterans” as emotional rhetoric to promote a bill that basically does nothing but change a few definitions to subtly federalize the regulation of state level apprenticeship programs. The bill doesn’t even MENTION Veterans except in the title. This is a democrat bill that does nothing at all for Veterans. This is outrageous. This is why we need people in the General Assembly who will not give in to celebrity propaganda, but actually read the bills and defend North Carolina against unconstitutional federal incursions like this.”

Tillis using word games to try and trick voters into thinking he fights the good fight? Say it ain’t so.

You won’t find too many people who are not in full support of offering veterans every opportunity possible to create productive and rewarding lives after their time of service and sacrifice. But taking advantage of that popular sentiment and virtue signaling in order to better the chances of your bill passing is a cheap trick that deserves some scrutiny.