As Abraham Lincoln pledged during America’s bloodiest conflict nearly 150 years ago, we have a responsibility “to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.”

Senator Blunt is grateful for the sacrifices that America’s veterans and their families have made to protect and defend our nation. We owe our way of life, our safety, and our freedoms to the bravery and dedication of these American heroes. Since coming to Congress, he has been committed to ensuring that the needs of our military veterans are met to the fullest extent possible.

As a member of the bipartisan Congressional Veterans Job Caucus, Senator Blunt is committed to helping America’s veterans find good-paying jobs as civilians. He introduced the bipartisan “Hire More Heroes Act,” which was signed into law in July 2015 and encourages companies to hire more American veterans, while providing relief from the burdensome ObamaCare employer mandate.

Senator Blunt is also committed to helping our veterans get the best treatment available – both for the visible and invisible wounds they endure while protecting our country. One in two veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan wars say they know a fellow servicemember who attempted or committed suicide – an unacceptable fact plaguing our nation’s brave heroes. It is also estimated that 5 to 20 percent of over 2.6 million servicemembers who deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn have or may develop symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress (PTS).  

Senator Blunt understands that PTS is treatable, and effective treatment begins with early, accurate identification. For this reason, he co-sponsored the “Mental-health Exposure Military Official Record Act” (MEMORy Act) to help servicemembers and veterans better track potential exposures during military service that could be later connected to mental health and traumatic brain injuries. He was also proud to co-sponsored the “Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act” to improve mental health and suicide prevention resources for the nation’s servicemembers and veterans.

He co-sponsored the Senate-passed Veterans Affairs (VA) reform bill in 2014, and he traveled to VA facilities across Missouri to address concerns about delayed wait-times for our nation’s heroes. In 2014, Senator Blunt successfully included language from the “Caring for America’s Heroes Act” in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2015 to help bring mental health treatment for the nation’s veterans and military dependents in line with the way physical injuries are treated under TRICARE.

During his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, he worked to improve the system that denied veterans the ability to receive both military retirement and veterans’ disability benefits, known as “concurrent receipt.” He will continue to identify areas where changes are needed in our veterans' support system and work toward making life easier for veterans and their families when troops return home.