Veterans

FIGHTING FOR OUR VETERANS    

Our nation bears a solemn obligation to the millions of men and women who have selflessly heeded the call to duty and have fought bravely for our nation.  No matter his or her rank, branch, or age, every American who has worn our nation’s uniform deserves our support not only when deployed, but in the months, years, and decades that follow his or her service.

Taking care of our servicemembers also means standing with all of the military families who bear the brunt of repeated deployments and time spent apart from their loved ones.  Military family members should not lose their jobs if they care for a loved one who has been wounded or injured in battle.  In the 110th Congress I introduced H.R. 3481, the Support for Injured Servicemembers Act, which amended the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to provide military family members up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave from their jobs for matters related to deployment of a loved one and up to six months of unpaid leave to care for injured service members.  If servicemembers are about to be deployed or are wounded in defense of our nation, the last thing their family members should have to worry about is losing their job in order to care for them or take care of essential business.  I am proud that my proposal was signed into law, and became the first-ever expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act in its history.

I support legislation to increase funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including the Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2012, which increases the department’s budget to $51 billion.  This spending bill includes $531 million for medical research, including mental health research.  Additionally, this bill ensures a stable and reliable source of funding to meet the physical and mental health needs of veterans.

Many veterans forfeited the pursuit of higher education to serve our country, and we must reward their sacrifice.  That’s why I supported the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010, which was signed into law by President Obama.  This bill expanded on the eligible programs of education to include apprenticeship and on-the job training, in addition to flight training and non-college degree programs of education.  It provides veterans with a housing stipend when taking courses strictly through long distance learning and allows student veterans to use their education benefits for pay for national tests, and licensure and certification tests.  Finally, this bill recognizes families’ roles in caring for an injured veteran by extending the period that a family member can use his or her education benefits.

You can count on me to continue fighting for better benefits for the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country.  They have stood by us in harm’s way, now it’s our turn to stand by them.

(Updated April 2012)