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Veterans
I am honored to represent the greater Houston region, which has the largest population of veterans in the nation, and the state that is home to more Medal of Honor recipients than any other state. I will work in Congress to honor the service of all our veterans and fulfill the promise this nation has made to them.
The men and women that bravely serve our nation deserve no less than the best care, and I will work in Congress to ensure adequate funding for the Veterans’ Administration so that veterans and military retirees are well taken care of when it comes to health care, housing, and employment and education opportunities. Congress continues to short-change our veterans by routinely failing to pass the VA’s budget before the fiscal year begins, causing problems for planning and budgeting. I will work to reform the budgetary process to ensure that the VA budget is prepared in a timely manner.
The VA is also drastically unprepared for the exponential growth of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with new and different medical concerns from past conflicts, and is already experiencing major claims backlogs. Our troops are experiencing unprecedented numbers of brain injuries, amputations and mental health issues. Since 2001, 195,241 Texans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, including over 70,000 members of the Reserve and National Guard. Congress last year voted against extending health care benefits to these Reservists and National Guard when they come home from Iraq or Afghanistan. These soldiers and their families have sacrificed so much by putting their lives on hold, and they deserve to maintain their health benefits and an extension of education benefits when they return home.
Congress has broken its promise to our veterans, and it is shameful that those who dedicated their lives to serving our nation are being shortchanged when it comes to funding their needs. We will never be able to adequately repay the dedication and service of our veterans, but Congress can begin by making veterans a priority when it comes to our federal budget.
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