Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) 3rd-term Republican from Mississippi. Letters To Leaders   Subject: Do Democrats Really Support Our Troops? To: Sen. Trent Lott September 8, 2005 A true and correct copy of an email I sent to State Rep. Rick Jones (R, MI statehouse) re his support of our troops on an incredible topic (Eagle Forum also mentioned sending postcards showing the man with a gun in Iraq demonstrated "poor parenting skills"): "Reading a new email from Eagle Forum.org this morning, I read with special interest the following true/correct excerpted paragraphs thereof: “ When Army National Guard Spc. Joe McNeilly of Grand Ledge, Michigan came home after 15 months in Iraq, he found that a family court "referee" had taken away his joint custody of his 10-year-old son and given full custody and control to the boy's mother. For five years, McNeilly had had a 50-50 no-problem custody arrangement with his ex-girlfriend Holly Erb. When called up to go to Iraq, he gave her temporary full custody while he was overseas. While he was gone, Erb persuaded a family court to make her full custody permanent. When McNeilly protested, he was told that his year-long absence constituted abandonment and produced custody "points" against him. "You want to make a soldier cry, you take his son away," McNeilly said. "It's devastating." Michigan State Representative Rick Jones became interested in this outrageous injustice. When he contacted the Judge Advocate General's office, he discovered that there are 15 to 20 similar cases in Michigan and it is a common problem all over the country. Rep. Jones has introduced legislation (H.B.5100) providing that absences for military service cannot be used against a parent and that a permanent custody arrangement cannot be established while a parent is on active duty. He is hearing from legislators in other states who want to sponsor similar bills. “ Mr. Jones, thank you so very much for acting to protect our troops, and for inserting yourself between those who feed fear for income to wives of our service people, just to undercut efficacy of our military and its morale. I shall copy the within to the RNC, Senator Frist and Majority Leader DeLay, asking that they encourage similar legislation in every State of the Union. Again, thank you for your service and patriotism!" I wonder how many Democrats, if any, will act to protect our troops from unwarranted intrusions into their private affairs. Chicago , IL