Issue Position: Veterans

Issue Position

Missouri is proud of our men and women in the active duty military and Missouri National Guard who are serving our country honorably at home and abroad and of the veterans who served our nation. We thank them for their great service to our nation, and we recognize the sacrifices that they and their families make to protect our freedoms and way of life. Just as they served our nation in its time of need, our country must remember them in their time of need. I have supported legislation that increases veteran's healthcare, education and housing benefits.

With my role on the Appropriations Committee, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill provides funding for the planning, design, construction, alteration, and improvement of facilities used by active and reserve military components worldwide. It capitalizes military family housing and the U.S. share of the NATO Security Investment Program, and finances the implementation of installation closures and realignments. It underwrites veterans benefit and health care programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, provides for the creation and maintenance of U.S. cemeteries and battlefield monuments within the United States and abroad, and supports the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and Armed Forces Retirement Homes. The bill also funds construction supporting Overseas Military Operations, a function previously carried out through emergency supplemental appropriations, and advance appropriations for veterans medical services.

While I know the federal government has many fiscal challenges, I am proud to continue to increase funding and benefits for veterans and their families.

Updated July 25, 2011

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