Senator Clinton Continues Fight for Our Troops & Veterans

Press Release

Senator Clinton Continues Fight for Our Troops & Veterans

Visit to Three Upstate New York VA & Military Installations Kicks off Week of Continued Focus on Troop & Veterans Issues

Senator has Authored Legislative Package to Help U.S. Troops and Their Families to Transition After Deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today kicked off a week of continued focus on issues affecting our men and women in uniform. Visiting Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers in Syracuse and Canandaigua, NY, and then visit Ft. Drum, home of the Army's 10th Mountain Division, the Senator highlighted the need to provide support to our troops and their families.

Senator Clinton recently introduced a package of legislation aimed at helping U.S. troops and their families to transition after deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan, including;

- the Heroes at Home Act of 2007 to get them the help they need by improving the detection, assessment and treatment of traumatic brain injury and expanding support systems for members and former members of the Armed Services with traumatic brain injury and their families, and

- the Restoring Disability Benefits for Injured and Wounded Warriors Act of 2007 and the Protecting Military Family Financial Benefits Act of 2007 to help ensure that wounded soldiers receive the disability benefits they need and deserve and to further protect military family financial benefits.

"When our brave men and women go to war, they should expect to be supported before they leave and be treated as heroes when they return, with the promise of adequate assistance and healthcare. That is the promise our country must keep to the men and women who enlist, who fight, and who return home often bearing the visible and invisible scars of sacrifice. This should be a time when we do more for our troops and their families, not less," Senator Clinton said.

Senator Clinton in Canandaigua, NY

"These bills will help our soldiers and their families if they suffer or are wounded, they will help to ensure that wounded soldiers receive the disability benefits they need and deserve and they will help protect military family financial benefits if a loved one is deployed," Senator Clinton said. "After visiting today with our brave troops and seeing firsthand what they are coping with, I am even more convinced that we must show them - not just tell them - that we are grateful for their service to our country."

On Thursday, in Washington, DC, Senator Clinton will also attend a Joint Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee to receive testimony on the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs disability rating systems and the transition of service members from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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