Issue Position: Veterans

Issue Position

The veterans who served our country have earned our respect, and they deserve full access to healthcare and other benefits. As Joe Biden says, "When your service ends, ours begins." Congress must ensure that services meet the many and complex needs of veterans and their families. With a suicide rate today of 20 veterans per day, this is a critical need and a moral imperative.

As your 3rd District representative in the U.S. Congress, I will:

Make sure the new Community Care program gives vets needed flexibility in seeking healthcare from private doctors.

Protect funding for the essential direct care provided by VA hospitals and clinics, and push the Trump
Administration to fill the more than 30,000 unfilled positions in the VA workforce.

Defend the essential services provided by our VA Medical Center in Grand Junction, our outpatient clinics in Glenwood Springs and Salida, our community-based outpatient clinics in Craig, Montrose, Durango, Alamosa and Pueblo, and our Vet Centers in Grand Junction and Pueblo.

Advocate for homeless veterans by seeking housing solutions that offer safety and dignity.

Ensure that veterans have full access to mental health counseling, PTSD recovery therapies and suicide prevention services. These must include innovative therapies that are not dependent on Big Pharma, such as service dogs, sports, art, music, equine and wilderness therapies, as well as cannabis-based treatments, that are proven effective in saving the lives of our service members.

Address the special needs of women veterans and active duty women soldiers who, in addition to PTSD and traumatic brain injuries, endure sexual trauma and gender bias.

Push the VA to address the lingering respiratory health impacts suffered by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were exposed to toxic fumes from burn pits, and a broader range of health impacts for vets exposed to Agent
Orange in Vietnam.

Encourage local communities to embrace their veterans with homecoming support in the job market and the
community culture. Programs and outreach that reconnect veterans to the civilian world provide a life-changing antidote to the crippling isolation that many veterans suffer.

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