Fridays With Chris; New Veterans Legislation

Op-Ed

Fridays With Chris; New Veterans Legislation

Dear Friend,

I want to share with you new bipartisan legislation I have introduced to help our veterans. The Make our Veterans Smile Act (H.R. 5595) would allow any service connected disabled veteran to receive dental care through the VA. This is a much-needed benefit that our veterans have earned. I am proud to introduce this legislation to see more of our veterans get the dental care they need.

Congressman Carney introduced the Make our Veterans Smile Act, which will allow disabled veterans to receive dental care

Currently, only disabled veterans rated as 100% disabled, former POW's, or chronically homeless veterans are able to receive dental care through the Veterans Administration. Poor dental health such as missing teeth can result in a disabled veteran missing out on employment opportunities.

I introduced this legislation with Congressman Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois. Both of us serve in the U.S. Navy Reserves, drilling monthly and serving two weeks of active duty each year.

I hear from veterans and military families from across our district that more must be done to take care of our veterans returning from combat—particularly our disabled veterans. Part of that is proper dental care. There is a direct correlation between someone's dental health and their overall general health. We can clearly do better for our veterans!

Sincerely,

Christopher P. Carney
Member of Congress

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