Minnesota Veterans Attend Obama Town Hall in Fargo
07/04/2008
ST. PAUL - A group of Minnesota veterans, including the last World War II veteran still serving in the Minnesota Legislature, Rep. Bernie Lieder, traveled to Fargo today to take part in U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's town hall meeting to discuss his commitment to keeping our sacred trust with our veterans - giving veterans and military families the care, support, and benefits that they deserve. Obama highlighted his work on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the proposals he has laid out in this campaign.
"This town hall meeting is a great opportunity for veterans from Minnesota and North Dakota to hear about Senator Obama's commitment to veterans and military families," Lieder said. "Young men and women who choose to serve are defending the very rights and freedoms that make America great. They deserve our admiration, respect and enduring gratitude. Even more, they deserve to be supported by the country they fight for, and that's what Barack Obama will do as President."
Obama has been a strong supporter of veterans and military families throughout his career.
Most recently in the U.S. Senate, Obama strongly and proudly supported the 21st Century GI Bill, introduced by Senator Jim Webb, that Congress recently approved. This bill will provide returning veterans with a real chance to afford a college education.
As a U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Committee on Veteran's Affairs, Obama has approached veterans issues with a basic set of principles.
Treating our Veterans with Respect
Barack Obama introduced the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act. The bill improves the condition of troop housing at hospitals like Walter Reed, streamlines the process for determining whether wounded troops can stay in the military, provides greater information to recovering service members, requires the hiring of more caseworkers, and provides more support to family members who care for injured troops.
Sheltering and Rehabilitating Homeless Veterans
One in three homeless males in this country is a veteran. That's unacceptable. Barack Obama authored legislation to extend and expand critical homeless veteran rehabilitation programs and make affordable housing available. As president, he will establish a zero-tolerance policy for veterans falling into homelessness.
Fighting for Disability Benefits
In Illinois, Obama led efforts to empower veterans who received inadequate disability benefits. He forced the VA to notify veterans in Illinois and other states about their right to review past claims. The resulting outreach led to significant numbers of veterans getting the benefits they deserve. As president, he will rebuild the Veterans Benefits Administration by switching to electronic records, hiring more caseworkers, and providing them more training and accountability.
Treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Barack Obama helped stop a VA effort to force some veterans to prove again that they suffered from PTSD to maintain their benefits. He also passed an amendment ensuring that all servicemembers would be properly screened for TBI. In 2007, Obama helped introduce a bill to personalize and improve overall care for TBI patients.
We have to understand that for far too many troops and their families, the war doesn't end when they come home. Because of inadequate mental health care, the number of suicides among veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan may actually exceed the number of combat deaths.
In the Senate, Obama helped lead a bipartisan effort to stop the unfair practice of kicking out troops who suffer from them. And when he is President, he will enhance mental health screening and treatment at all levels: from enlistment, to deployment, to reentry into civilian life.
Easing the Transition of Veterans into Civilian Life
Barack Obama introduced legislation that would help troops transition to civilian life after they leave the military. His legislation would provide new veterans with electronic medical and service records, monitor health trends and improve transportation services.
As president, Obama will:
Fully fund veterans' medical care.
Reverse the Bush administration policy that bars some one million moderate-income veterans from the VA system.
Recruit more mental health professionals to ensure high quality care for all veterans suffering from PTSD and other mental health problems.
Expand Vet Centers in rural areas so veterans and their families can get care where they live.
Improve the transition from military to civilian life by closer coordination between the VA and Pentagon and extending the time allowed for veterans to get health care from two to five years.