Veterans

The extended occupation of Iraq and the activation of our Reserve forces means that the requirement for increased veterans' health care will increase even more in the future.

Last September, I joined 55 other Members of Congress in requesting an additional $1.8 billion to the President's budget request for veterans' health care. We must honor the commitment we made to fund veterans' health care. Additional funding would help the Veterans Administration (VA) retain nursing home care beds for veterans and to address the unreasonable waiting times that exist for thousands of veterans. The VA also desperately needs adequate funding to make its facilities safe, efficient, and modern, as well as allow for enhancements promised to veterans.

I have joined over 360 Members of Congress to change an existing law that unfairly penalizes veterans. The legislation, referred to as "Concurrent Receipt," will amend current law to permit members of the armed forces who have a service-connected disability to receive the full amount of both their military retired pay and their disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs.