By Brian Todd, CNN
(CNN) — A cartoon depicting a firing squad of bureaucrats and media with rifles aimed at US veterans has prompted a powerful congressman to call for an investigation into one of America’s oldest veterans advocacy groups, stoking a debate over free speech for political satire.
Rep. Mike Bost, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has asked VA Secretary Doug Collins to investigate the Veterans of Foreign Wars after the satirical cartoon meant to protest cuts to veterans benefits appeared on T-shirts being sold on behalf of the group, which has about 1.3 million members.
The VFW, which was founded in 1899, says it has used the cartoon in different variations since the 1930s to protest efforts to cut veterans benefits. The most recent version features a pair of men in business suits, labeled “bureaucrats” and “media,” pointing rifles at two veterans in military fatigues, with the the phrase “Honor the Contract” printed below. The phrases “Punishing Service,” “Removing Benefits” and “Waste and Fraud” are included in the image.
The VFW says it rolled the T-shirts on June 30, with the Grunt Style military apparel company handling the sale and proceeds meant to fund veterans mental health and suicide prevention initiatives. The following day, Bost, an Illinois Republican, wrote to Collins and issued a news release criticizing the image.
In the letter, which was obtained by CNN, Bost and Rep. Jack Bergman, a Michigan Republican, wrote: “VFW has repeatedly authorized the use of its name, trademarks, and likeness on commercial merchandise depicting graphic, inflammatory, politically charged imagery surrounding pending veterans’ legislation.”
Bost and Bergman say the imagery “can reasonably be interpreted as glorifying or normalizing political violence,” and that “regardless of intent, such messaging risks inflaming public anger toward public officials” at a time when threats against public officials and journalists “are at an all-time high.”
Bost and Bergman also ask the VA to “review whether VFW’s accreditation, and the good standing of its representatives, remain consistent with the responsibilities imposed upon accredited organizations and their representatives” under federal statutes governing such organizations. The letter asks the VA to obtain information from the VFW about its financial arrangements for selling merchandise.
A VFW spokesperson told CNN that Grunt Style is producing the T-shirt and started taking preorders late last month. The VFW plans to sell the shirt at a pop-up store at the organization’s July 25 national convention in Reno, Nevada, the spokesperson said.
The VFW and other veterans service organizations have recently come out against a bill introduced by Bost and his counterpart on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Chairman Jerry Moran. The “Take Care of America’s Veterans Act” would cut billions of dollars in benefits to veterans suffering from tinnitus and sleep apnea.
The money saved from those cuts would pay for the “Major Richard Star Act,” a bipartisan piece of legislation that would allow veterans to receive both their retirement benefits and combat injury-related benefits. Veterans are currently allowed to receive one, but not both, of those benefits.
A VFW spokesman told CNN that the recent version of the cartoon was not issued specifically to protest the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act. But the VFW is pushing back vigorously against Bost’s letter to the VA.
VFW general counsel John Muckelbauer said in a statement that “The letter identifies no allegation that the VFW or any of our accredited representatives violated VA accreditation standards, acted unethically, or failed a single veteran. Instead, it seeks to question our fitness because we disagreed with pending legislation