Press Release |
||
|
||
|
||
|
Washington, DC —Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, released the following statement in honor of tomorrow’s observance of Veterans’ Day:
"This Veterans’ Day, we are waging war on two fronts. Today is the day for us to come together to honor all of the brave men and women in uniform who have risked their lives to keep American families safe—in these wars and all others. I encourage everyone to take a moment to thank our veterans and their families for their courage and sacrifice. While we may be divided on the war in Iraq, we must be united in seeing that every single member of the armed forces is welcomed back with all the compassion our grateful nation can bestow.
“The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost us the lives of more than 4,000 and 600 Americans, respectively, and they have wounded more than 32,500 of our warriors. Time and again, our veterans have kept their promise to serve our nation, and we must keep our promises to protect our veterans. I am pleased that the Democratic Congress has made great strides in providing a new direction for funding these promises.
“Last year, we enacted the largest increase in veterans’ health care in our nation’s history—strengthening benefits for more than 5 million veterans and adding over $16 billion for care and services over two years—including the expansion of PTSD screening and counseling. We also enacted a new GI bill to provide a full, four-year education to those who have served our nation.
“Additionally, we are working to strengthen our military and address the worst U.S. military readiness crisis since the Vietnam War. The bipartisan defense authorization bill, which includes many provisions that I authored, will boost our current force strength, greatly improve our military readiness, and help ensure that we provide the best training, equipment, and deployment conditions for the men and women serving in our Armed Forces.
“Our men and women should not get first-class weapons in battle only to receive third-class benefits when they return home from war. I am confident that Barack Obama, as president, will provide adequate funding for our warriors—not just for the wars in which they are fighting. I look forward to working with his administration to provide enhanced services to these men and women. On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. We, as a nation, must pledge not to leave our veterans behind when they return home.”
###
|
