Expanding Health Coverage for Our Military Families:  As part of health insurance reform, which was signed into law March 2010, young adults will soon be eligible to remain on their parents' health insurance policies up to age 26.  Recently, I introduced the TRICARE Dependent Coverage Extension Act (S. 3201), to make certain that families of our armed service members are not left behind when this provision is implemented.   Extending insurance to cover young Americans until age 26 is critical, especially as they make the transition into the tough job market. This important bill would ensure that this same benefit is available to young adults in families who get their coverage through the TRICARE program - the Department of Defense health insurance program for military service members, retirees, and their families.

Approximately 33 percent of retired veterans in Colorado lose over $75 million in benefits each year as a result of the unfair "Disabled Veterans Tax." This is unacceptable, and I have co-sponsored the bipartisan Retired Pay Restoration Act (S. 546) to allow the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability. This bill would effectively end this tax and restore full benefits to thousands of veterans in Colorado. I will continue to work with members of both parties and the President until this tax is eliminated.

In 2009, I co-sponsored a bipartisan bill (S. 535) to ensure full benefits for the surviving spouses of military retirees who paid into the Survivor Benefits Plan. Currently, service members pay a premium so that their surviving spouses will continue to have income from the plan, but the amount the spouse receives is offset by any money received from dependency and indemnity compensation, which is compensation for a service-connected death and the resulting economic loss. This legislation would end that unfair practice.

For many years, I have fought alongside the veterans' community in Colorado to build a stand-alone VA medical center to replace the current aging facility. In 2009, I urged Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to prioritize building a stand-alone, 200-bed tertiary care veterans' hospital at the former Fitzsimons Army base in Aurora. I was pleased that the Obama Administration committed to completing this needed project. I also fought for funding to get this project started. In Fiscal Year 2010, the new Veterans Medical Center received $119 million to build a new Community Living Center, an Outpatient Clinic, and parking. In the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011, the project would receive $450.7 million in construction funds. I will work with my colleagues in Congress to ensure these funds are appropriated and that the building process stays on schedule and on budget.

In 2009, I introduced legislation with Senator Michael Bennet to establish a new national veterans' cemetery in El Paso County (S. 691). While Colorado currently has both Fort Logan National Cemetery and Fort Lyons National Cemetery, both cemeteries are inconveniently located from Colorado's largest veterans' population, and Fort Logan will soon reach full capacity. One of the obstacles to creating the new cemetery is a Department of Veterans Affairs population threshold used to determine where to locate new national veterans' cemeteries. The proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011 includes language that reduces the population threshold, which would make Southern Colorado eligible for a new veterans' cemetery. I will work with my colleagues in Congress to urge that this new threshold be included in the budget that Congress passes this year and that the VA begin planning to build the new cemetery. Southern Colorado veterans deserve to have a cemetery to call their own.

I am a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Honor Act (S.772), introduced by Senator Kit Bond. Among other provisions, the bill would establish a scholarship program for education and training of behavioral health care specialists for Veterans Centers; clarify that any member of the Armed Forces who served on active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan is eligible for readjustment counseling and related mental health services through Veterans Centers; and restore the authority of Veterans Centers to provide referral and other assistance upon request to former members of the Armed Forces. This will ensure that the care we provide our veterans is commensurate with their outstanding service.

I have consistently supported programs to train veterans in key areas such as clean energy jobs. Programs like Helmets to Hard Hats and Veterans Green Jobs help our veterans gain vital career skills while supporting critical sectors key to Colorado's economic health. This collaboration is a win-win, and I will continue to look for ways to support these types of programs.

Making sure that our veterans and soldiers get access to quality medical care, including behavioral health services, is critical. In October 2009, I pressed Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to allow greater veterans' access to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment programs by broadening the standards of what constitutes legitimate PTSD claims. PTSD is an increasingly common ailment on today's battlefields, and we must do all we can to ensure America's veterans get the care they have earned.