|
This Sunday, November 11th, we will again come together to remember our veterans and honor their service and sacrifice for our country. Today there are some 25 million veterans in America, and we owe these brave men and women and their families an immeasurable debt of gratitude for their efforts to protect us and our way of life.
Sadly, on this Veterans Day we continue to be engaged in wars abroad, making it all the more important to remember our young men and women currently serving in America’s armed forces. As we pay tribute to all of the veterans who served in previous conflicts, let us honor our courageous troops currently serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world, who are our veterans of tomorrow. We must also pay our respect to the more than 4,250 Americans who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the wounded: more than 28,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and 1,700 in Afghanistan.
I am proud to report that the 110th Congress is following through on its commitments to America’s veterans with our GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century. This is our promise to invest in veterans’ health care and to strengthen benefits for our men and women in uniform today and for the veterans and military retirees who have already served. For too long the needs of our troops, our veterans and their families have been shortchanged. My colleagues and I have resolved to reverse this unfortunate trend and to provide our servicemen and women with the support that they have earned.
To that end, this Congress is on course to enact a bipartisan veterans’ spending bill that provides the largest increase in funding for veterans health care in the Veterans Administration’s 77 year history. I am pleased to report that this measure is also supported by all of the major veterans’ service organizations. This investment is on top of the $5.2 billion provided earlier this year to strengthen health care for more than five million veterans. This funding will help ensure that our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury receive the quality health care they need to successfully rebuild their lives here at home. Congress also passed the Wounded Warriors Assistance Act to address the revelations of problems and gaps in care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other soldiers’ and veterans’ health care facilities across the country.
I am proud that this Congress’s actions on behalf of our veterans, our troops, and their families have mirrored our words of support for their service and sacrifice. We are keeping our promises to our troops and their families with the bipartisan defense spending bill we hope will soon become law. Our bill increases the pay for our military men and women by 3.5 percent and it protects the 60,000 survivors of our military service members from losing their survivor benefits under the Military Families Tax. It also takes another step toward ending the Disabled Veterans Tax by expanding special compensation for disabled retirees who have served at least 15 years.
This Veterans’ Day, as we enjoy time with friends and family, I hope we will take a moment to thank our current and future veterans for their service to our country. Remembering our veterans, our troops, and their families and supporting them with our words and deeds -including our policies- is one small way in which we can repay them for all that they have done for our country.
Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.
|
