Issue Position: Supporting Our Veterans and Military Personnel

Issue Position

Congressman Joe Courtney has been a tireless advocate for eastern Connecticut's veterans, working to ensure they get the care, benefits and services they have earned for their service to our nation. For that, he has earned recognition from our region's veterans organizations, and received the Veterans of Foreign Wars Political Action Committee's (VFW PAC) endorsement for his re-election in 2010.

Boosted Resources for Homeless Veterans in Eastern Connecticut. Too many of our veterans face increased risk of falling into homelessness. That is why Joe Courtney is fighting to ensure that our at-risk veterans have the support they need.

Won Critical Support for Supportive Veterans Housing in Eastern CT. Working with local veterans in the Jewett City area, Joe Courtney fought for and won support for a new 18 unit supportive housing facility for homeless and at-risk vets. Courtney secured $200,000 towards the project in 2009, and worked with local stakeholders, state officials and the VA to secured other resources towards the effort. As a result, the building will break ground later this fall.

Expanding Federal Support for Veterans Housing. Joe Courtney has strongly supported the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program, which helps defray the cost of housing for at-risk veterans. In May, he helped pass legislation to provide the program $75 million next year that will pay for 10,000 new vouchers -- many of which will be used in Connecticut.

Pushing for a long-term solution to this problem. Joe Courtney is an original cosponsor of the Homes for Heroes Act (HR 403), which establishes a comprehensive long term plan to address veterans homelessness. It passed the Hosue in 2009 and awaits further consideration in the Senate.

Ensure Veterans Have the Transportation They Need. Here in eastern Connecticut, veterans routinely have to travel long distances to attend their medical appointments in other areas of the state. That is why Joe Courtney is working to ensure that our veterans have access to transportation they need to access the care they have earned.

Vans for Veterans. Working with veterans organizations, Joe Courtney worked to secure new vans that will provide free transportation for veterans who need help getting to their medical appointments. Disabled veterans no longer need to miss critical doctor appointments because of a lack of access to transportation.
Fairness in Mileage Reimbursements. For over 30 years, disabled veterans in eastern Connecticut received a paltry 11 cents per mile reimbursement to help defray travel costs to their medical appoints at VA appoints at West Haven and Newington -- while government employees received 42 cents/mile. Working with leaders in Congress such as Veterans Appropriations Chairman Chet Edwards, Congressman Courtney helped pass legislation to increase the reimbursement to match government employees.

Ensuring the VA has the resources it needs to care for our veterans. For too long, the VA budget fell far short of the funding and staff it needed to properly care for our veterans. Since 2007, Joe Courtney has worked to provide historic levels of investment in the care and services our veterans have earned.

Historic Increases in VA Budgets. Joe Courtney has helped pass increases the budget for the VA for the fourth year in a row to ensure that veterans have access to the services and care they need. Congressman Courtney also helped lead the fight to provide advanced funding for VA medical accounts to ensure that the veterans' budget is not held back by partisan political battles, which is now law.

Fairness to those exposed to Agent Orange. For decades, Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange have fought to get their health related side effects of that exposure covered by the VA. Earlier this year, Joe Courtney helped pas legislation to start benefits to more than 150,000 Vietnam veterans and survivors for exposure to Agent Orange, a toxin linked with Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, and hairy cell/B cell leukemia.

Taking care of our troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our newest veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with a unique set of challenges. Joe Courtney is working to ensure that this newest generation of veterans has the support they need.

Troops to Teachers. Joe Courtney partnered with Senator John McCain to introduce the Post 9/11 Troops to Teachers Enhancement Act to help members of the military transition into the teaching profession. This bipartisan legislation was included in the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act.

GI Bill for the 21st Century. Helped pass the Post 9/11 G. I. Bill of Rights which restores full four year scholarships to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The law also allows an eligible veteran to pass this benefit on to their spouse or child.
Stop Loss Pay. Joe Courtney fought to ensure that troops who saw their tours of combat duty extended receive extra pay for their time away from home and their families. And, he worked to bring an end to the stop-loss policy that was harming our troops, their families, and our military readiness.

Confronting their unique mental health challenges. Joe Courtney has fought to strengthen mental health services critical to the estimated 620,000 returning troops from Iraq or Afghanistan suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, or traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In addition, he passed an amendment to the defense authorization bill to ensure that troops returning from combat receive and face-to-face mental health screening when they return, as well as follow up meetings to monitor their progress.

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