Veterans' Affairs

Congressman Snyder speaks at the AETN WWII veterans' sendoff. As a Vietnam veteran, I understand the importance of providing full funding for the Veterans Administration (VA). I am a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and one of my main goals is to ensure that the Veterans Health Administration has all the funding it needs to provide sufficient care to both current veterans and newly eligible veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF). Many veterans have been returning from OIF/OEF with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury, and other serious injuries and it is essential that the VA has the capability to treat these conditions. Further, it is important to ensure that the VA continues to invest in medical research, particularly in light of new battlefield injuries and the need for new treatments. I have worked hard over the past few years to increase medical research funding at the VA, and I am proud to have received a "Legislator of the Year" award from the Friends of Veterans Administration Medical Research.

Congressman Snyder speaks at the Memorial Day ceremony in 2007. Reducing the backlog of benefit and pension claims at the VA is another major issue, and I have written to the President asking him to make reduction of this backlog a top priority. I will continue to support legislation that would increase staff and training at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to improve performance. It is essential for veterans to receive timely consideration of their disability claims.

On June 22, 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever produced by the United States government: The Servicemembers' Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the GI Bill of Rights. By the time the original GI Bill ended in July 1956, 7.8 million World War II veterans had participated in an education or training program and 2.4 million veterans had home loans backed by VA. Today, the legacy of the original GI Bill lives on in the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB). The MGIB is an important priority of mine, as I finished college and went to medical school on the MGIB. One feature of OIF/OEF is that Reservists are serving one, two, or even three tours on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many times, however, they receive a much smaller educational benefit. I have introduced legislation, HR 1102, that would ensure that Reservists who serve on active duty get the same educational benefit that active duty soldiers receive for the time the Reservist served on active duty. I will continue to support legislation that improves the GI bill.

Congressman Snyder pins the Purple Heart on a constituent.