Honoring Our Veterans

Veterans have sacrificed greatly for this country. They deserve a Congress that honors them by keeping its promises. I support maintaining and strengthening veterans' benefits. Veterans are entitled to no less than full medical coverage by a doctor they trust available near the place where they live. I further pledge to honor both our active duty troops and veterans by making sound foreign policy judgements. We must never dishonor the sacrifices our servicemen and women have made, and are making, by using them as anything but a last resort to defend our freedoms. The purpose of the United States military is not, and has never been, national building. We must protect our country, we must live up to the alliances we have formed with friendly nations. We must never use our military as a political tool, or as a force deployed because diplomacy is too boring for our leaders.

We must also continue to support the military men and women who defend our way of life, after they have left the service of our Nation. The Washington Post reports, “The veterans lobby has already beaten back two controversial Bush administration proposals: a $250 enrollment fee for veterans joining the health care system and an increase in the prescription co-payment, from $7 to $15.

Along with these insults to our Veterans, in June of 2005, the Veterans Administration was stricken with a $1 billion dollar shortfall in funding. For months prior to finding the shortfall, the Post reports, “Senate Republicans. . . have been voting down Democratic proposals to boost VA programs.” For a shortfall of this amount to be present in the keystone program in our promise to veterans is an outrage. As your Representative, I will fight for full benefits and coverage for all our nationals Veterans.

Special Message from Rep. John Spratt details how $tearn$ and Republicans are hurting our Veterans