Veterans

We owe nothing less than the best to the brave women and men who have risked their lives for our nation. Congresswoman Slaughter is committed to ensuring that we support our troops while they serve our country and after they have left the theaters of war.

The greater Rochester area is home to approximately 70,000 veterans, about one out of every fifteen residents. Congresswoman Slaughter believes we must provide our veterans and their families with the best possible benefits and health care, especially as we welcome home veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Priorities

• Protecting Soldiers: Congresswoman Slaughter believes that we should be doing all we can to support our young men and women who serve our country. She has worked to ensure that troops have the protective equipment they need to be safe on the battlefield and to eliminate the scourge of sexual assault in the military.
• Fighting Homelessness: Congresswoman Slaughter is focused on preventing our veterans from falling into homelessness. She believes this is something no servicemember should have to face. Congresswoman Slaughter will continue to work with local organizations and federal agencies to help ensure that all veterans have a place to live.
• Expanding Job Opportunities: Congresswoman Slaughter believes we must help veterans secure much-needed jobs. She is especially committed to making sure that veterans have access to the training and education they need for high-tech and advanced manufacturing jobs in Rochester.
• Improving Health Care: Congresswoman Slaughter is dedicated to providing veterans in Rochester and across the country the best health care possible. After a decade at war, it is now more important than ever that veterans have access to quality health care, including mental health care. Congresswoman Slaughter has fought to reduce the backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and build a new VA Outpatient Clinic in Rochester.

Accomplishments

• Improving Combat Body Armor: In 2006, Congresswoman Slaughter became aware that 80 percent of Americans killed in the Iraq War due to upper body wounds could have survived with adequate body armor. This marked the start of her years long effort to improve body armor safety standards. In 2009, she secured the recall and replacement of 16,000 pieces of unsafe body armor from the front lines. Congresswoman Slaughter’s effort led to improved armor testing protocols and ended the practice of outsourcing testing to private companies.
• Protecting Soldiers From Sexual Assault: Congresswoman Slaughter has spearheaded efforts to ensure that we support sexual assault survivors and end sexual assault in our military. In 2011, Congresswoman Slaughter authored language that was passed into law that allows survivors to promptly transfer from the base of their attacker so they can seek justice in a safe environment. In 2014, she successfully lobbied House appropriators to fully fund the Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office at the level of $24 million. Congresswoman Slaughter continues to push Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to focus on curbing sexual assault in the military.
• Supportive Services for Veterans Families (SSVF) Program: Congresswoman Slaughter has played a key role in steering funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Supportive Services for Veterans Families Program to Rochester. In 2011 and 2013, she obtained a total of $2 million for Rochester’s Veterans Outreach Center. This funding assists local veterans with housing stability, prevents veteran homelessness, provides mental health care, and other vital services.
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Outpatient Clinic: Congresswoman Slaughter has been a leading proponent of the new VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Rochester. In 2014, she helped cut through bureaucratic red tape to allow construction of the facility to move forward. The new clinic will be more than twice the size of the current clinic and will help improve the quality and accessibility of care for veterans in the Rochester area.
• Acute Psychiatric Care: In 2014, Congresswoman Slaughter joined the Veterans Outreach Center in calling for more resources for acute psychiatric care for veterans in the Rochester area. It is more important than ever that we focus our efforts and resources to address the mental health needs of our veterans.
• Ending the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Backlog: Congresswoman Slaughter pushed House appropriators to fully fund claims processors within the VA. The backlog of pending veterans’ benefits claims was cut by more than 160,000 cases in 2014 and more than 250,000 cases since the start of 2013. However, challenges remain and Congresswoman Slaughter is focused on ensuring veterans in the Rochester area do not have to worry about delays.
• Job Training Funding: In 2014, Congresswoman Slaughter announced a $5.1 million grant for RochesterWorks. This community organization provides job resources to veterans and the unemployed. RochesterWorks expects the grant to support the training of 1,500 workers over three years.
• Veterans Casework: Congresswoman Slaughter’s office has worked with thousands of veterans over the years to help them cut through red tape and get access to the care and benefits they need. If you are a veteran and need assistance, please visit the Veterans Resources page here.