How Minnesota's congressmen (and woman) rate on supporting veterans

All legislators like to claim they support veterans issues. But do they really? One measure of separating fact from fiction — or action from hot air — is to see how they are rated by the relevant interest groups.

One of the primary groups that supports veterans and the issues they confront is the Disabled American Veterans. According to their website:

With more than 1.2 million members, Disabled American Veterans is an organization of disabled veterans who are focused on building better lives for disabled veterans and their families.

The organization accomplishes this goal by providing free assistance to veterans in obtaining benefits and services earned through their military service. It is fully funded through its membership dues and public contributions. It is not a government agency and receives no government funds.

DAV is the foremost representative of the interests of disabled veterans and their families, their widowed spouses and their orphans before federal, state, and local governments. Our National Legislative Program ensures disabled veterans are not forgotten by lawmakers.

So how do Minnesota's representatives rate? Here's a table:

Representative	2006	2005	2004	2003	Average
Betty McCollum	100	100	100	100	100
Martin Olav Sabo	100	100	100	50	88
Collin C. Peterson	100	60	100	50	78
James L. Oberstar	100	100	100	0	75
James M. 'Jim' Ramstad	66	20	0	100	47
Gilbert W. 'Gil' Gutknecht	66	20	0	50	34
Mark R. Kennedy	100	20	0	0	30
John P. Kline	66	0	0	50	29

(SOURCE: Project Vote Smart "Veterans Issues" Disabled American Veterans.)