Issue Position: Caring For Our Veterans
Issue Position
Care for Veterans and Current Service Members
It is important that we take care of those who have served our country. It is essential that we not only give them and their families the help they need but also show them that the government is there for them 100% no matter what. The horrifying and shocking realities surrounding the veteran population needs to be addressed: 20 veterans a day commit suicide, 50,000 live on the streets, 495,000 veterans are unemployed, and PTSD afflicts almost 31 percent of Vietnam veterans, 10 percent of Gulf War (Desert Storm) veterans, 11 percent of veterans of the war in Afghanistan, and 20 percent of Iraqi war veterans. In addition, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) needs increased funding and resources to ensure sufficient staff and enough medical equipment, resources and adequate facilities to help solve the aforementioned issues.
We will fight to ensure more adequate funding for the VA to:
*Hire more staff to sufficiently care for our veterans and their families at pre, during, and post deployment
*Utilize and train on using technology to remove inefficiencies such as administrative work/filings
*Build more medical facilities including hospitals and mental health clinics to ensure veterans receive the proper medical and mental health care they need. We must also ensure that veterans can get treated at any hospital or facility outside of the VA to address the concerns of long wait times to get treated
*Hire more doctors for the VA to also ensure veterans are getting the timely treatment needed.
*Develop more housing for veterans so that when they come back home, they have a place to live
*Guarantee jobs for our veterans so that we can apply our veterans' strengths in helping them achieve the career path they wish to pursue when transitioning back to civilian life
*Providing education as a right whether it be private or public, veterans should get the education they want and need to compete in this global competitive economy
*Help our homeless veterans off the streets by providing rapid re-housing and homelessness prevention programs and clinical services
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