Issue Position: Military and Veterans

Issue Position

Every day, we honor the service of our men and women who volunteer to protect our nation, and to their families who so willingly support them and endure the hardships of the military lifestyle. These Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, present and past, have our utmost respect and appreciation. I remain steadfast in my commitment to providing our military with the resources it needs to accomplish its mission, and to provide our Nation's military families with the first-class benefits, pay and healthcare that they deserve.

To ensure that our military has the best resources to accomplish its missions, I submitted over $250 million in congressionally-directed defense spending requests this year, focusing on three priorities: 1) life saving technology that can be fleeted to the war fighter in a relatively short timeframe; 2) medical technology that will save lives on the battlefield or restore lives of the injured; and 3) "green" high-efficiency technology that will improve in-theatre logistical capabilities. I believe that funding these projects will result in sound, tangible and important products that support and protect our war fighters, care for and rehabilitate the injured, and significantly improve in-theatre operations.

To provide for our military families, I cosponsored legislation to protect military overseas voting, provide residency relief for spouses when families transfer, expand travel reimbursements for specialty medical care, improve TRICARE coverage for family members with autism, and protect food subsidy entitlements that support the families of junior enlisted service members.

In addition, I strongly support the following important legislative initiatives...

* I voted in support of the 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2346) which provides $79.9 billion in military funding to support our service members continued performance of missions in overseas contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This bill also contains $208 million to meet unfunded requirements that are necessary for on-time completion of a new world class military healthcare facility, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, currently being constructed in Bethesda, MD.

* I will vote in favor of the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009 (S. 423), which authorizes advanced appropriations for certain medical care accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs by providing two-fiscal year budget authority: the first for fiscal 2010 funding of the entire department and the second for fiscal 2011 funding for certain medical programs, prosthetic research and information technology.

* I have co-sponsored the Post-Deployment Health Assessment Act of 2009 (S. 711), which requires in-person mental health screenings for each member of the Armed Forces who is or has deployed in connection with a contingency operation, to help identify PTSD, suicidal tendencies, and other behavioral health issues for which additional care may be necessary.

* In recognition of the service of our Nation's veterans and retirees, I have co-sponsored-- Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2009 (S. 546), which permits retired members of the uniformed services who have a service-connected disability to concurrently receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs and retired pay from the Department of Defense; the Survivor Benefit Plan and Indemnity Compensation Act (S. 535) that repeals an offset of amounts paid in dependency and indemnity compensation from Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities; and the Federal and Military Retiree Health Care Equity Act (S. 491) to permit federal civilian and military retirees to pay Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and TRICARE supplemental premiums on a pretax basis and claim a tax deduction for TRICARE supplemental premiums or enrollment fees.

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