Issue Position: Military and Veterans

Issue Position

We have been blessed in this nation to be protected and served by the bravest and most noble soldiers in the world. I am deeply grateful to each and every one of these individuals for their enormous sacrifices made to preserve America's freedom and our cherished way of life. As men and women who have made great personal sacrifices to protect the freedom of their fellow countrymen, I believe that veterans deserve to be properly compensated. I will continue to be forever indebted and passionately supportive of efforts to assist America's veterans.

The VA must be given every resource to fully, and efficiently, serve our nation's veterans. Too often, I hear veterans express utter disappointment with the way they were treated when speaking with or visiting the VA. We need to make it a priority of Congress to make the VA as pleasant an experience as we can make it for all of our veterans. I will continue to support efficient funding and improvements which would further empower the VA to have a greater, more positive impact in the lives of the men and women who have sacrificed so much to keep our country free.

To this end, we must ensure that all of our veterans receive cost-affordable health care regardless of whether their employers offer health care insurance. We must also make sure that we do not pass along health care fee increases to our nation's veterans. Veterans should not see any increases to premiums, deductibles, copayments, or costs for inpatient care.

I have always supported increasing the basic pay of our veterans who serve our country with honor. I do not believe any increase should be automatically tied to increases in the Employment Cost Index; rather, it should be a premeditated increase initiated by the U.S. Congress to show the men and women of our armed forces that they continued to be appreciated for all of their sacrifices. In my opinion, these brave veterans are not paid enough for what they have given-- and continue to give - in the service of the United States of America.

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