No Permanent Friends. No Permanent Enemies. Only Permanent Interests.
STATEMENT ONE: OUR VETERANS DESERVE BETTER — CONGRESS MUST NOT CUT DISABILITY BENEFITS TO PAY FOR OTHER BENEFITS
AFICNY Condemns the House Vote to Reduce Future Veterans’ Disability Compensation
On Veterans Day, November 11, 2026, the United States House of Representatives passed legislation that would increase benefits for some veterans and reduce future disability compensation for others.
The American Freedmen Independent Club of New York (AFICNY) strongly opposes this approach.
Our veterans are not bargaining chips. Their sacrifices should never become a budget-balancing exercise.
The House-approved Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (H.R. 9237) would expand retirement and disability compensation for about 58,000 combat-injured military retirees. That is a benefit our wounded veterans deserve.
However, the legislation would also change how the Department of Veterans Affairs evaluates tinnitus and sleep apnea, potentially reducing disability payments for future claimants. Veterans already receiving compensation for those conditions would be protected under the proposal.
AFICNY supports expanding benefits for combat-injured veterans. We reject the idea that one group of veterans should sacrifice benefits so another group can receive what it has earned.
Why should veterans have to pay for benefits promised to other veterans?
Even more troubling is that this legislation passed by a voice vote rather than a recorded roll call. Americans deserve to know exactly where their elected representatives stand when legislation affects the financial security of the men and women who served this country.
Veterans deserve transparency, accountability, and respect—not political maneuvering.
For Black American veterans, who have served this nation despite generations of discrimination, segregation, unequal treatment, and economic exclusion, the question of protecting earned benefits carries historical significance.
AFICNY calls on the United States Senate to reject provisions that reduce future disability compensation and to advance legislation that protects and expands veterans’ earned benefits without requiring veterans to finance those improvements by reducing other veterans’ compensation.
If America can find the money for its political priorities, Congress must find a responsible way to honor its obligations to those who served.
Our message to Washington is simple:
Stop balancing the budget on the backs of America’s veterans. They have already paid their price through service and sacrifice.
STATEMENT TWO: BLACK NEW YORKERS CANNOT AFFORD ANY NEW TAXES
AFICNY Calls on Governor Kathy Hochul and Albany to Put Economic Relief Before Additional Taxation
Black New Yorkers are already struggling with rising costs for housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, healthcare, and property taxes. Families are working harder just to keep what they have, while homeownership and generational wealth remain out of reach for too many.
Now, just days after the election, Governor Kathy Hochul is discussing the possibility of imposing additional taxes.
Black New Yorkers cannot afford another financial burden. Enough is enough.
For decades, Black communities have been promised economic opportunity, affordable housing, and financial security. Yet too many families continue to struggle with the cost of living, while seniors on fixed incomes face increasing pressure to remain in homes they spent their entire lives paying for.
The American Freedmen Independent Club of New York (AFICNY) believes that government must demonstrate fiscal responsibility before asking working families to sacrifice more of their income.
AFICNY opposes new taxes that increase the financial burden on Black working-class and middle-class families, homeowners, retirees, and small-business owners.
AFICNY also calls for meaningful property tax reform, including eliminating property taxes on fully paid-off primary residences while protecting essential public services.
We recognize that public services require funding. However, government must establish clear priorities, eliminate waste, evaluate existing spending, and demonstrate measurable results before imposing additional financial burdens on residents.
New Yorkers should not have to choose between paying their property taxes, purchasing groceries, maintaining their homes, or saving for their children’s future.
AFICNY’s message to Albany is simple: Before asking Black New Yorkers to pay more, show us what government has delivered with the money it already collects.
Political leadership must be judged by results, not campaign promises. Economic opportunity, homeownership, business ownership, and generational wealth must be priorities—not perpetual financial burdens.
Black New Yorkers have contributed to this state’s economic strength for generations. They deserve policies that help them build wealth, retain their homes, strengthen their families, and pass something meaningful to the next generation.
Black New Yorkers need economic relief, not another tax bill.
AFICNY’S MESSAGE TO WASHINGTON AND ALBANY
Whether the issue is veterans’ disability compensation in Washington or additional taxation in New York, AFICNY believes the principle must remain the same:
Government must be accountable to the people who bear the financial consequences of its decisions.
We will hold Democrats and Republicans to the same standard. Neither political party receives a free pass when its policies threaten the economic security of working families, veterans, retirees, or future generations.
Our position is not based on political loyalty. It is based on the permanent interests of the people we represent.
No Permanent Friends. No Permanent Enemies. Only Permanent Interests.
Damon K. Jones
New York Representative
American Freedmen Independent Club of New York (AFICNY)
AFICNY.COM
