Indianapolis Star - Susan Brooks and Andre Carson: Nation Must do More to Aid Veterans

Op-Ed

By Rep. Susan Brooks and Andre Carson

Each year, Americans come together on Memorial Day to remember and honor those who have sacrificed their lives in defense of this nation.

It is a day that provides an opportunity to commemorate the brave efforts of all our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guardsmen and Coast Guardsmen -- those who have served throughout our nation's history and those who still defend us today.

It is a time to renew our commitment to our nation's more than 2 million troops and reservists, their families, and our more than 22 million veterans, including more than 115,000 veterans who live in Indiana's 5th and 7th congressional districts. We also honor the memory of the 6,700 Americans who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan and show our gratitude to the 50,000 who have been wounded.

Yet it is insufficient to simply remember their service, to pause just one day in honor of these devoted men and women. Memorial Day should, instead, be a reminder that we have a daily responsibility to build an America worthy of our veterans' sacrifice and to provide our service members and veterans every opportunity for success when they return home.

While Washington is often embroiled in bitter division and partisanship, we must realize there is nothing political about our duty to the brave men and women who protect our freedom and pursue peace around the world. The challenges our service members and veterans face in civilian life -- challenges of homelessness and unemployment - demand a partnership that looks beyond party lines and a commitment that puts their needs first. We demonstrated this last week with bipartisan support for the Helping Heroes Fly Act, which allows wounded warriors to travel more easily as they visit family and look for work.

Part of that commitment also means ensuring our men and women in uniform can obtain good jobs when they come home. With 170,000 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan unemployed and looking for work, we have an obligation to make sure they are equipped with the necessary tools to succeed in the civilian workforce. We must make it easier for companies to hire our veterans, and we must better enable our service members to utilize their leadership and skills as entrepreneurs, small business owners and workers. That is why we support veterans' job fairs, transition initiatives, and education credits that empower our returning service members as they acclimate once again to civilian life.

Today, too many service members live with the invisible wounds of war, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. We have a responsibility to end the pervasive stigma against mental health treatment. This is why we're working together to support the Military Mental Health Empowerment Act, which seeks to eliminate misperceptions about mental health care that keep service members from the help they need. With more of our service members taking their own lives in 2012 than were killed by an enemy in combat, we clearly can do more to promote mental health treatment.

We must also take action to reduce the backlog of pending veterans' claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs. With the number of pending claims having reached nearly 900,000, there is a clear urgency to make changes and ensure our veterans have timely access to the benefits they deserve.

Our nation's service members take a pledge to protect the freedoms of all Americans, no matter where they come from or which party they vote for. It's time for our nation's leaders to put aside their own political labels and promise to do everything we can to make sure no veteran is left behind. This Memorial Day, we commit again to finding lasting solutions that fulfill our obligations to our troops, our veterans, and their families.

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