Issue Position: Veterans

Issue Position

Veterans are true American heroes. Those who fought on the frontlines for freedom deserve to have access to quality health care, as well as the pension and disability benefits they have earned. In the 108th Congress, I have worked to enact the "Salute to Veterans and the Armed Forces" package. It is a comprehensive package to improve veterans' benefits by reducing waiting times for health care, improving survivor benefits, speeding up VA disability claims and permanently blocking a doubling of VA drug copayments and an increase in the enrollment fees proposed
by the Administration.

With your support, in the 109th Congress I pledge to work to ensure that veterans can immediately access the health care they were promised. Right now, more than 60,000 veterans are waiting six months or more for an appointment at VA hospitals. I along with several of my colleagues in the House of Representatives have proposed to increase funding for the VA by $1.8 billion and to require the VA to pay veterans $500 a month when their
claims have been left pending for more than 6 months.

I believe that we must block increases to veterans prescription drug co-payments and new premiums for veterans. This year in Congress, I successfully fought to block a proposal to increase premiums and prescription drug co-payments for veterans seeking to access health care. These new cost sharing requirements would have forced hundreds of thousands of veterans out of the health
care system entirely.

As your Member of Congress, I will work to increase Veteran's Services available in rural and needy communities. Our veterans have risked their lives defending our nation's safety and worked to promote global democracy, we must now care for them as they have cared for us. That is why I have worked on a bipartisan basis to begin working on a proposal that would allow veterans in communities where no VA Hospital exists to see their local physicians and receive treatments from local hospitals. Having already secured a few successful test sites for this program in the 15th Congressional District, I am confident that this proposal will not only help our veterans receive their needed medical treatments in a safer and timely basis, it will also help reduce our growing deficit.

Legislative Priorities

Establish health care and surgery services for Veterans at local hospitals and clinics so that they will not have to travel long distances to VA Hospitals to seek medical care.

Enact legislation to allow Veterans to receive both the disability pay and the retirement pay they have earned and deserve.

Fully fund all programs for veterans health care, compensation, and benefits

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