Issue Position: Veterans

Issue Position

As a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves, I understand the needs of our soldiers and I am fighting in Congress to make sure they are protected on the battlefield and are given the care they were promised when they come back home. There are few greater responsibilities of our government or our society than living up to the vow made to each of our veterans.

Congress has a solemn duty to ensure that our military retirees and servicemen and women have access to quality, affordable health care. I had the honor of helping craft legislation that led to the largest increase in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in its history, helped develop and pass a new and improved GI bill, secured a new VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Whiteside County, introduced a bill to fight veterans homelessness and in one of my proudest moments--eliminated the uncertainty over VA funding from year to year, by leading the fight to mandate that veterans' health care be appropriated a year in advance.

While we have achieved a lot over the past several years, my work on this issue is far from over. I will continue my work to make sure that the VA healthcare system provides quality, reliable care to our veterans. I will continue to push for the VA to bring a CBOC to South Central Illinois. I will continue my efforts to fight unemployment throughout our veteran community. I will continue to advocate for each and every veteran throughout Illinois and across our nation because we must continually strive to do better in honoring their service.

Source