Keeping Faith with Our Veterans

Statement

Keeping Faith with Our Veterans

Veterans Day is a welcome occasion to pause and salute America's 24 million veterans, and to thank them for their service to our nation. But we must also honor our veterans in practical ways, and this means ensuring that they receive the benefits and recognition that they earned.

For starters, we should do everything possible to see that those who served our nation in uniform have a decent roof over their heads. Several months ago, when the Senate took up a bill to address the housing foreclosure crisis, I was able to include a provision making it easier for disabled veterans to qualify for federal housing programs. Homelessness is a well documented problem for many veterans, and we should not tolerate red tape and roadblocks that make it more difficult for veterans to qualify for the housing assistance they need and deserve.

We also need to provide ample opportunities for veterans to further their education so they can prepare themselves for advancement in the civilian workplace. For that reason, I strongly supported what has been called the 21st Century GI Bill, which became law this past spring, ensuring that service members who have been in the Armed Services since September 11, 2001 can take advantage of improved educational benefits similar to those provided to World War II-era veterans.

Veterans of Iowa's Meskwaki tribe played a historic role in World War II, using their native language as the basis for creating unbreakable codes for communicating messages in combat. As soldiers in the heat of battle, they exemplified the traditional Meskwaki values of bravery, honor and justice. To recognize the contributions of these veterans, I joined a bipartisan group of my colleagues, including Senator Chuck Grassley, to honor Iowans of the Sac and Fox Nation in Tama County who transmitted military code during World War II. The legislation authorizes Congressional Gold Commemorative Medals to be presented to all Native American Code Talkers, including Iowa's Meskwaki, in recognition of their contributions to the nation.

In addition to honoring our veterans, we also honor the men and women currently serving in our Armed Forces, especially those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The National Defense Authorization Act that passed earlier this year included a 3.9 percent soldier pay raise. And the Fiscal Year 2009 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill that recently became law added more than $3.5 billion to the President's request, and $9 billion above the FY 2008 funding levels. Of this, $47.6 billion is for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including $41 billion specifically for veterans' medical care, almost $2 billion over the President's request. In addition, this legislation will further assist our nation's veterans by increasing mental health and substance abuse funding, and increasing the gas mileage reimbursement rate from 28.5 to 41.5 cents per mile for service members that need to travel for their health care.

Veterans Day is a special day to honor America's military heroes, past and present. On this day, let us recommit ourselves to meeting the needs of our veterans all 365 days of the year.

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