Honoring Our Soldiers and Veterans
By: U.S. Senator Blanche L. Lincoln
On this Memorial Day, families and communities throughout Arkansas and around our great nation will gather together to remember our men and women in uniform who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom. Seven years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 90 brave Arkansans have paid the ultimate sacrifice to make our country and the world a safer place. I know that all Arkansans join me in praying for the families and loved ones of these Americans.
My father and both grandfathers served our nation in uniform and taught me from an early age about the sacrifices our troops and their families make to keep our nation free. That is why I have consistently fought for initiatives that provide our veterans the benefits they have earned and deserve.
In advance of Memorial Day, I have authored a series of bills to assist our National Guard and Reservists.
My first legislative proposal calls for an increase in the Montgomery G.I. Bill rate for reservists that would better reflect our nation's commitment to the welfare of the men and women serving in our nation's Selected Reserve.
Another measure, the Selected Reserve Continuum of Care Act, provides medical and dental treatment for reservists to ensure readiness. Using the National Guard and Reserve as an operational force in wars overseas has required more accessible health care for members of the Selected Reserve in order to maintain the necessary medical readiness required by deployment cycles.
Lastly, the Veterans Survivors Fairness Act would enhance Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits for survivors of severely disabled veterans and increase access to benefits for more families. These measures have received the strong backing of a number of veterans groups.
Earlier this year, I helped introduce a bipartisan bill expressing congressional support for the advancement of legislation that aims to improve the lives of American veterans and their families. Specifically, the Keeping Our Promise to America's Military Veterans Act calls for the enactment of veterans' legislation to assure funding for medical care; timely and accurate adjudication of all benefit claims; access to high quality treatment for mental health conditions, including PTSD and TBI; and a seamless transition for veterans and their families from military to civilian life.
Last year, I was a strong supporter of the 21st Century G.I. Bill and worked with Senator Jim Webb of Virginia to enact it into law. The legislation modernizes the G.I. Bill by ensuring the value of education benefits for our modern-day troops keeps up with the rising costs of education. It also includes my provision to allow National Guard and Reserve members serving multiple deployments to accrue additional education benefits.
In addition to education benefits, veterans' health care continues to be at the top of my priority list. I have worked with my colleagues to make substantial investments to increase patient travel reimbursements, improve services for mental health care, reduce the backlog of benefits claims, and reduce the time to process those claims. Access to the Veterans Administration health system, especially for rural veterans is critical. For these rural veterans, I have championed legislation that will increase the mileage reimbursement rate for veterans when they go see a doctor at VA medical facilities and authorize transportation grants for Veterans Service Organizations to provide better transportation service in rural areas. Additional legislation would establish Centers of Excellence for rural health research and education, examine ways to improve delivery of health care to rural veterans, and authorize the VA to conduct demonstration projects on alternatives for expanding care for veterans in rural areas.
As Memorial Day approaches, I encourage all Arkansans to take the time to honor our soldiers, veterans, and their families. Never miss an opportunity to thank someone in uniform-even if it is in passing at the grocery store, an airport, or the mall. Visit a veterans hospital. Take a trip to a military memorial. Send a care package.
Our troops are worthy of our appreciation, and we should come together as a nation to show them and our entire American family that we stand with them as they serve our interests at home and abroad.