Veterans for Talent Launch Coalition in Columbia, St. Joseph & Springifield

Veterans for Talent Launch Coalition in Columbia, St. Joseph & Springifield

Saturday, August 26, 2006

(COLUMBIA) Missouri veterans said today they trust Jim Talent to continue keeping the commitment to those who served in America's military. The Veterans for Talent coalition, launched today in Columbia, St. Joseph and Springfield, will be working to get the message out to their fellow veterans about Sen. Talent's accomplishments for those who served the country in uniform and his continued commitment to our military men and women.

"I'm pleased to have received the support of so many veterans in Missouri," said Senator Talent, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a recipient of the Vietnam Veterans of America's Lifetime Achievement Award. "It's important if we want to have a good volunteer force to keep the commitments we've made to our service men and women. But more than that, these are commitments of honor, and they ought to be kept. I'd like to continue working to make Washington serve the veterans who served us so well."

Sen. Talent has supported our veterans and America's armed forces as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and with legislation improving military health care, protecting our service men and women from predatory lenders, increasing funding for our military, protecting the Flag from public desecration and keeping the commitments of honor made to those who served our country in uniform.

Military Health Care

Senator Talent sponsored bipartisan military health care legislation, now law, to address a major issue that arose after the first Gulf War in which some troops returned home with symptoms of an illness commonly referred to as Gulf War illness.

Senator Talent's Military Health Fairness Act will provide a before and after snapshot of the medical fitness of every troop deployed to a theater of war so the results can be compared to determine whether or not an individual, or their unit, was exposed to a dangerous substance.

Protecting Our Servicemen and women from Predatory Lenders

Senator Talent sponsored bipartisan legislation, which passed the Senate, to protect our service members from predatory lenders who charge outrageous interest rates, sometimes as high as 800 percent, for short-term loans. His bill would limit the amount that payday lenders can charge soldiers and their families for a loan. Claire McCaskill opposes Senator Talent's legislation.

Increasing Funding For Our Military

Senator Talent has fought for years for bigger defense budgets so we can adequately modernize our forces, train our troops and provide them and our military retirees with the benefits they have earned. Most recently, Senator Talent this spring led the fight to increase military spending, adding $6.7 billion to the Senate Budget Resolution for defense.

Senator Talent has worked hard on the Senate Armed Services Committee to provide our troops with the tools they need to win the War on Terror.

Protecting the Flag

Senator Talent is an original cosponsor of the Flag Desecration Resolution, which would amend the U.S. Constitution to allow Congress the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. Flag. The Senate voted in July on the amendment and it came one vote short of the 67 needed to pass. Claire McCaskill said the issue "isn't a problem" and criticized the Senate for scheduling a vote to protect the Flag.

Keeping America's Commitments to Our Veterans

Senator Talent has supported billions of dollars in funding increases for veterans health care to help make certain that those who served our country and put their lives at risk to keep us safe have the benefits they deserve when they return. In the House, he passed legislation, now law, to help veterans who are small business entrepreneurs or want to start their own small business.

http://www.talentforsenate.com/news/Read.aspx?ID=123