By Brian Todd, CNN
(CNN) — A cartoon depicting a firing squad of bureaucrats and media with rifles aimed at US veterans has prompted a powerful congressman to call for an investigation into one of America’s oldest veterans advocacy groups, stoking a debate over free speech for political satire.
Rep. Mike Bost, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has asked VA Secretary Doug Collins to investigate the Veterans of Foreign Wars after the satirical cartoon meant to protest cuts to veterans benefits appeared on T-shirts being sold on behalf of the group, which has about 1.3 million members.
The VFW, which was founded in 1899, says it has used the cartoon in different variations since the 1930s to protest efforts to cut veterans benefits. The most recent version features a pair of men in business suits, labeled “bureaucrats” and “media,” pointing rifles at two veterans in military fatigues, with the the phrase “Honor the Contract” printed below. The phrases “Punishing Service,” “Removing Benefits” and “Waste and Fraud” are included in the image.
The VFW says it rolled the T-shirts on June 30, with the Grunt Style military apparel company handling the sale and proceeds meant to fund veterans mental health and suicide prevention initiatives. The following day, Bost, an Illinois Republican, wrote to Collins and issued a news release criticizing the image.
In the letter, which was obtained by CNN, Bost and Rep. Jack Bergman, a Michigan Republican, wrote: “VFW has repeatedly authorized the use of its name, trademarks, and likeness on commercial merchandise depicting graphic, inflammatory, politically charged imagery surrounding pending veterans’ legislation.”
Bost and Bergman say the imagery “can reasonably be interpreted as glorifying or normalizing political violence,” and that “regardless of intent, such messaging risks inflaming public anger toward public officials” at a time when threats against public officials and journalists “are at an all-time high.”
Bost and Bergman also ask the VA to “review whether VFW’s accreditation, and the good standing of its representatives, remain consistent with the responsibilities imposed upon accredited organizations and their representatives” under federal statutes governing such organizations. The letter asks the VA to obtain information from the VFW about its financial arrangements for selling merchandise.
A VFW spokesperson told CNN that Grunt Style is producing the T-shirt and started taking preorders late last month. The VFW plans to sell the shirt at a pop-up store at the organization’s July 25 national convention in Reno, Nevada, the spokesperson said.
The VFW and other veterans service organizations have recently come out against a bill introduced by Bost and his counterpart on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Chairman Jerry Moran. The “Take Care of America’s Veterans Act” would cut billions of dollars in benefits to veterans suffering from tinnitus and sleep apnea.
The money saved from those cuts would pay for the “Major Richard Star Act,” a bipartisan piece of legislation that would allow veterans to receive both their retirement benefits and combat injury-related benefits. Veterans are currently allowed to receive one, but not both, of those benefits.
A VFW spokesman told CNN that the recent version of the cartoon was not issued specifically to protest the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act. But the VFW is pushing back vigorously against Bost’s letter to the VA.
VFW general counsel John Muckelbauer said in a statement that “The letter identifies no allegation that the VFW or any of our accredited representatives violated VA accreditation standards, acted unethically, or failed a single veteran. Instead, it seeks to question our fitness because we disagreed with pending legislation. … That should concern every veteran.”
In a news release issued the day after Bost’s letter, the VFW said the cartoon “is not a depiction of violence. It is a symbolic representation of the consequences veterans face when Congress targets the benefits they earned through their service. It is also protected First Amendment speech.”
Democrats in Congress and other veterans advocacy groups have come out in support of the VFW. Rep. Mark Takano, ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, sent a statement to CNN about Bost’s letter, saying that “these actions look less like oversight and more like retaliation against a veterans’ organization for opposing his bill.”
The group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which has about 450,000 members, issued a statement saying it is “disturbed” by Bost’s overture to the VA.
“Attempts by elected officials to use the weight of their office against [veterans service organizations] because they disagree with their advocacy or raise serious concerns about proposed legislation should concern every veteran (and American), regardless of where they stand on this particular issue,” the group said.
It’s unclear how the VA will respond to Bost’s letter. The agency did not respond to an email from CNN that asked whether it will review the VFW’s accreditation, as Bost requested, and whether it will ask VFW for its financial information.
Kathleen McCarthy, spokesperson for the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said the VA had not yet responded to the letter sent by Bost and Bergman. She added that Bost is not seeking to have the VFW’s charter pulled.
“This is not about silencing any organization or discouraging debate. Chairman Bost welcomes strong policy disagreements and values the role veterans service organizations play in informing Congress,” McCarthy said in an email. “His concern is that our public discourse remains factual, respectful, and free from rhetoric that could be interpreted as encouraging violence.”
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