{"id":15331,"date":"2013-09-04T16:30:01","date_gmt":"2013-09-04T21:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/members-of-congress-have-little-direct-military-experience\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:29:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:29:22","slug":"members-of-congress-have-little-direct-military-experience","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/09\/04\/members-of-congress-have-little-direct-military-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Most members of Congress have little direct military experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/Veterans-and-Congress_2.png\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f5f4f4\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f5f4f4;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"372\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Veterans-and-Congress_2.png?resize=310,372 310w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-27617 not-transparent\" alt=\"Veterans-and-Congress_2\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Veterans-and-Congress_2.png\" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only about a fifth of the members of Congress who are debating whether or not to authorize U.S. military action in Syria have any military experience themselves.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/officials-press-lawmakers-to-approve-syria-strike-obama-invokes-congresss-credibility\/2013\/09\/04\/4c93a858-155c-11e3-804b-d3a1a3a18f2c_story.html\">voted 10-7 to approve a resolution<\/a> giving President Obama limited authority to attack Syria in response to its government&#8217;s reported use of chemical weapons against civilians. Public opinion, however, is<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/09\/03\/public-opinion-runs-against-syrian-airstrikes\/\"> leaning against airstrikes<\/a> against Syria, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Twenty senators (20%) and 89 representatives (20.5%) are veterans, according to the authoritative\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/research\/reports\/2013\/07\/vital-statistics-congress-demographics-members-mann-ornstein\"><em>Vital Statistics on Congress<\/em><\/a>, published by The Brookings Institution. Among the Senate&#8217;s notable veterans: Republicans John McCain (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.), both strong supporters of taking action against Syria; Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin and Kansas Republican Pat Roberts, both of whom have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/special\/politics\/where-lawmakers-stand-on-syria\/\">expressed skepticism<\/a> or outright opposition; and Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey, who voted &#8220;present&#8221; on the Syria resolution Wednesday.<!--more--><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/Veterans-and-Congress_31.png\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f2eeec\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f2eeec;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"551\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Veterans-and-Congress_31.png?resize=310,551 310w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-27630 not-transparent\" alt=\"Veterans-and-Congress_3\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Veterans-and-Congress_31.png\" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not all that long ago, military service was practically a requirement for serving in Congress. The high point in recent decades was the 95th Congress (1977-78) when, following an influx of Vietnam-era veterans, a combined 77% of the House and Senate had served in the armed forces. But as World War II veterans have retired and relatively few Americans enlist in the all-volunteer armed forces, veterans account for a smaller and smaller share of Congress.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/09\/Veterans-and-Congress_1.png\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f7f5f5\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f7f5f5;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"325\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Veterans-and-Congress_1.png?resize=310,325 310w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-27621 not-transparent\" alt=\"Veterans-and-Congress_1\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/09\/Veterans-and-Congress_1.png\" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That reflects the wider trend in U.S. society. According to Census figures, veterans currently make up about 7% of the overall population, down from 13.7% in 1970 &#8212; when the Vietnam War was raging and the draft was still in place. As <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2011\/10\/05\/war-and-sacrifice-in-the-post-911-era\/6\/#chapter-5-the-public-and-the-military\">a 2011 Pew Research Center report<\/a> noted, the post-9\/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been fought by a historically small U.S. military; this has contributed to a distance between the military and civilian society. While Americans overwhelmingly say they feel proud of those who&#8217;ve served and appreciate their sacrifices, 71% say\u00a0most Americans know little or nothing about the problems faced by military personnel; about as many (74%) oppose reinstating a draft.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Veterans make up a smaller share of Congress than at any time in the past five decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[79,100,81,366],"bylines":[842],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-15331","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-congress","category-military-veterans-1","category-military-veterans-2","category-military-veterans-3","bylines-drew-desilver","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-politics"],"label":"Short 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