Kelly, Deluzio speak to veterans on behalf of Casey

Politicians and pundits keep telling us the upcoming election is the most important in our lifetimes. Fate doesn’t seem to care. Take Thursday as an example. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., was scheduled to appear with Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, at a North Hills campaign event to discuss veterans’ issues.

Casey is fighting to keep his seat; Republican Dave McCormick yearns to take it. But on Thursday, Casey was called away to attend a funeral in Scranton. Then Kelly’s flight was delayed. Deluzio arrived on time, though, so he and JoJo Burgess, mayor of Washington, Pennsylvania, got the event started.

Deluzio is himself a veteran — he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, served as an officer in the Navy and deployed overseas multiple times during the Iraq War.

“I think we all know in this country we have a sacred obligation in this country to care for our fellow veterans,” he said. “That takes action down in Washington. I wish I could say there was a unanimous view down there. There isn’t.”

He gave an example: the PACT Act, which expands veterans’ benefits to cover illnesses caused by toxic exposures suffered in the military. Casey and Kelly supported the legislation, but some Republicans were “willing to vote against care for burn pit-exposed veterans, toxic exposed veterans,” Deluzio said.

Burgess said McCormick got rich by profiting off investments in China — he specifically mentioned McCormick investments in Chinese steel (Burgess is a steelworker and a veteran). Casey, he said, fought for provisions that ensure American-made steel is used in infrastructure projects and saved 1,200 steelworking jobs in Butler County.

While waiting for Kelly, Burgess asked if members of the small audience of about a dozen people had questions or comments. One did.

“All of us as veterans need to stand up and claim patriotism,” said Moises Montalvo, an Army veteran and Pennsylvania organizer for Common Defense, a grassroots organization of progressive veterans. “The other side isn’t the only side that gets to put their flavor on patriotism. Not all veterans look like the veterans they think of. Veterans are gay, straight, LGBTQ, men, women. We represent a wide swath of this country …”

Montalvo said he’s concerned about extremist views. “If, God forbid, we see a Sen. McCormick and Donald Trump take over, then we’re going to see things go in a direction we don’t want to see as veterans and as citizens.”

With that, Kelly entered the room. He served in the Navy for 25 years before becoming a NASA astronaut. He was elected to the Senate in 2020.

After discussing the PACT Act and the GOP’s obsession with judges and tax cuts for the wealthy, Kelly spoke about something with which he’s very familiar — fighter aircraft. The U.S. once had what he called a “significant overmatch” with the Chinese military. That’s changed in the past decade, in part because of improvements in Chinese aircraft and weapons. McCormick, a former hedge fund manager, “invested as CEO of Bridgewater, heavily, in the manufacturing of Chinese bombers and planes,” Kelly said. “Those are the same fighter aircraft that would go up against us, our pilots for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, and our ground forces, if we were ever in conflict with the Chinese.”