Connolly to submit bill to help troops

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Rep. Gerald E. "Gerry" Connolly will submit legislation today to help U.S. troops escape financial penalties they could face while deployed.

The Democratic congressman's Helping Active Duty Deployed Act would allow service members to end "family plan" cell phone contracts or rental property leases early with no charge.

Current federal law allows troops to end individual cell contracts or vehicle leases with no monetary penalty, but family cell plans and real estate leases can still generate extra costs.

"That just outrages me," Connolly said Saturday after addressing the Vietnam Veterans of America's Virginia State Council meeting, held near Manassas.

Connolly, whose 11th District includes most of eastern Prince William County, said he found out about the problem from speaking to veterans, some of whom were from Prince William.

"It's wrong," he said. "It's disrespectful."

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America supports Connolly's bill, and the organization's chief legislative counsel related his own cell phone horror story in a letter to the congressman.

Patrick Campbell wrote that when he was in Iraq, he was required to pay a monthly fee to his provider to keep his cell contract current.

Then he had to spend five hours of his first day home in a wireless store just to try to get his service restored.

"It took me over seven months for the whole issue to get resolved and required filing a complaint to the FCC and switching service providers," Campbell wrote.

Connolly's legislation also would allow troops to get a refund if they paid college tuition before being deployed and were unable to complete courses because of their service commitment.

The bill is the latest in a string of military causes Connolly has taken up since being sworn in in January.

"We have a strong military presence in Northern Virginia, and a strong tradition of respect for, and a culture of, the military," Connolly said at the gathering at the Four Points by Sheraton near Interstate 66.

He told the Vietnam veterans group that he's co-sponsored 15 bills about veterans issues since being elected to Congress.

Last month, Connolly also began a push for more mental health funding for the military.

He co-signed a letter urging the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to increase funding for mental health programs by $300 million in the fiscal 2010 defense budget.

"We've come a long way from George Patton slapping a soldier because he had stress syndrome," Connolly told the Vietnam vets Saturday. "We now know that that isn't some yellow-bellied kid who just is afraid of serving in the front. It's a pervasive problem, and we ignore it at our own peril."

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.