Issue Position: A Veteran Fighting For Veterans

Issue Position

As a 25-year veteran of our armed services, including combat service, I personally understand the importance of military service and the sacrifice our troops and their families make every single day.

And I'm also incredibly proud that in South Dakota our brave men and women serve in support of our armed forces at a rate higher than the national average. Consequently, we have more men and women to protect and serve in return.

It's why I lent my voice early on to attend "Save the VA" meetings and those calling for a full investigation of the treatment our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines were getting in our VA facilities. And it's why I was at the front line calling on the Washington politicians to stop playing politics with our soldier's lives: fingers can be pointed afterward our troops are safe and healthy. But until every man and woman in the armed services is getting top-quality care, we need to focus on what is truly important -- protecting those who have protected us.

When men and women put their lives on the line to protect our country, they deserve no less than our best in return. It's why the words homeless and veteran should never be used in the same sentence. It's why votes like incumbent Kristi Noem's to cut funding to veterans programs are so abhorrent. It's why it's high time we had one of our own representing South Dakota military families in Washington.

I was proud to fight for my country in uniform. And I'll be honored to fight to protect our veterans as our next member of Congress.

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