As the first New York Senator to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, one of my top priorities is to ensure that our men and women in uniform have the resources they need to be safe and secure as they do their job.

New York has a proud history of military service and it has been an honor to meet the servicemembers and their families at New York’s various military installations, including the men and women of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, NY, and to visit with wounded servicemembers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Their bravery, patriotism and determination is awe-inspiring, and we must never forget what they have done to protect our nation.

I am also proud to be the only Senator serving on U.S. Joint Forces Command's (JFCOM) Transformation Advisory Group (TAG). The TAG brings together leaders from academia, the military, Congress and the private sector to provide the Commander of JFCOM with timely advice on scientific, technical, intelligence and policy-related issues.

Helping Service Members and Their Families Cut Through Red Tape

We owe our men and women in uniform an enormous debt of gratitude for their sacrifices, but they deserve more than just our thanks. In 2007, I had the opportunity to visit with wounded service members at Fort Drum, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. On each of these visits, I was inspired by the courage and commitment of these men and women, and impressed with the superb acute medical care they receive, but I was also deeply distressed to hear heartbreaking tales of unacceptable bureaucratic red tape and neglect. These brave men and women frequently emphasized the problems posed by untrained and overworked support staff, missing documents, lack of legal counsel, failure to adequately address wounds like traumatic brain injury and the seemingly endless time spent waiting to start or complete the medical and disability evaluation process.  MORE»

Modernizing Health Care to Reflect the Realities Facing Our Men and Women in Uniform

I have long been concerned with the quality of health care that we provide to our courageous men and women in uniform.  In the months leading up to the Iraq war, I questioned whether the Pentagon was prepared to track medical problems our troops might encounter, and I introduced and worked to pass the Armed Forces Personnel Medical Readiness and Tracking Act of 2004, which established a new tracking system that ensures that active duty personnel and Reservists receive regular health screenings. In recent years, I have also worked to include major provisions of my “Heroes at Home” legislation in the FY 2007 and FY 2008 Defense Authorization bills. “Heroes at Home” is intended to assist service members transition from deployments abroad back into civilian life and work and to improve detection and treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  MORE»

Protecting Service Members' Financial Benefits

Every American needs to remember that we continue to owe our service members our full support even after they return home. We must demonstrate our deep appreciation to them and their families for their sacrifices by providing the tangible benefits and support that they deserve, and by ensuring that their military service is a foundation they can use to build on for the rest of their lives. After all these courageous young Americans have done for us, that is the least that America owes to them. In my position on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have fought to make sure that the words spoken in support of our troops and their families are matched by real action. I have introduced numerous pieces of legislation, such as the Protecting Military Family Financial Benefits Act, Restoring Guaranteed Bonuses for Wounded Veterans Act and the Military Personnel Financial Services Education Act to ensure that service members and their families are getting the financial support and benefits that they have earned. Many of my provisions have passed the Congress and been signed into law. MORE» 

GI Bill of Rights

The GI Bill of Rights has helped millions of service members transition successfully to civilian life. It has been one of the best investments we have made as a nation. I believe it is time to update and modernize the GI Bill to meet the 21st century needs of today's service members, veterans and their families. In May 2007, I introduced the 21st Century GI Bill of Rights Act to reward the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by providing them with education, housing and entrepreneurial benefits commensurate with their needs. MORE»

Body Armor

It is our solemn responsibility to fully train and equip our troops going into harm's way. In January 2006, I was shocked by press reports indicating that lives of US troops could have been saved if more extensive body armor had been supplied to those deploying to Iraq. In response to these reports, I spoke out loudly, urging the Army to make every effort to provide additional body armor as quickly as possible to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and calling for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to investigate the situation, and for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation to focus on how the Pentagon's procurement decisions were made for this equipment. MORE»

Standing Up for New York's Military Installations

I am so proud to represent and support New York’s military bases and installations, including Fort Drum, home to the U.S. Army’s 10 th Mountain Division, the most deployed Division in the U.S. Army. New York’s military installations – active-duty, Guard and Reserve alike – play critical roles in our national security and homeland defense. As New York’s first Senator to sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have worked to secure funding and support for all of New York’s military installations and have discussed their significance during Armed Services Committee hearings. In 2005, I was enormously gratified when New York achieved unprecedented success in the Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission review of our nation’s defense infrastructure. Looking forward, I will keep working to ensure that New York's military installations continue to play a significant role in fulfilling the needs of our armed forces. MORE»

	Senator Clinton Questions Air Force Nominees on NY Bases - July 22, 2008
	Senator Clinton Presses General Petraeus to Refocus Efforts on Afghanistan - May 22, 2008
	Senator Clinton Presses General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker on Iraq Withdrawal - April 8, 2008
	Senator Clinton Questions General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Iraq at Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing - September 11, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions General James Jones (Ret.) on the Findings of the Iraqi Security Forces Independent Assessment Commission - September 6, 2007
	Nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Commits to Senator Clinton to Brief Congress on Redeployment Planning - July 31, 2007
	Senate Armed Services Committee Approves Clinton Measures to Help Wounded Servicemembers - June 14, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions Lieutenant General Douglas Lute at Senate Armed Services Committee Confirmation Hearing - June 7, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions U.S. Central Commander Admiral William Fallon at Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing - May 3, 2007
	Senator Clinton Calls for Closure of Guantanamo Bay Detention Center - April 26, 2007
	Clinton Presses Bush Pentagon on Contracting Abuses in Iraq - April 19, 2007
	Remarks of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on State of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps - April 17, 2007
	Clinton Continues to Fight for Our Troops & Veterans; Questions Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Officials About Treatment of Servicemembers and Veterans at Joint Armed Services-Veteran Affairs Committee Hearing - April 12, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions Air Force Leaders Over CSAR-X Contract Process - March 20, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions Army Generals About Living Conditions and Administration of Outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center - March 6, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions Administration and Military Officials About U.S. Policy in Afghanistan - March 1, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions Vice Admiral John M. McConnell, USN (ret), Director of National Intelligence and Lieutenant General Michael Maples, USA, the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency at a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on Worldwide Threats - February 27, 2007
	Senator Clinton Raises Iraq and Darfur with Defense Secretary Gates and General Pace, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on the Administration's FY 08 Department of Defense Budget Request - February 6, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions General George Casey Jr. on His Nomination to be United States Army Chief of Staff - February 1, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions Admiral William J. Fallon, Nominee for Commander, United States Central Command - January 30, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions Defense Secretary William Perry, Ambassador Dennis Ross, and General Jack Keane on Iraq Strategy - January 25, 2007
	Senator Clinton Questions General David Petraeus at Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing - January 23, 2007