Promises Made To Veterans Should Be Kept
November 1, 2007, No other Americans have stood stronger or more bravely for democracy than our troops and veterans. The debt owed to them is immeasurable, and that’s why we must celebrate, honor and remember them by ensuring those who serve receive all the benefits they have earned. Much more can be done to ensure America provides the most for the citizens who have given the most to this country.
This year, Congress has made great strides to keep the promises we have made to our veterans. We have worked to improve veterans’ health care and ease burdens on military families and disabled military retirees. We have passed a budget that provides the single largest increase in veterans’ health care in our nation’s history.
We’re fighting to ensure that our troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan receive the quality of care they deserve. In the wake of revelations of poor care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the House passed the Wounded Warriors Assistance Act to improve the military medical care system and address traumatic brain injury and mental health needs, which are growing problems among our returning veterans.
Increased veterans funding is a significant accomplishment, but this is about more than dollars. It’s about fulfilling a moral obligation to those who have served because supporting our veterans is a cost of war.
My colleagues and I are working to re-establish the mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs as a source of aid to those who have given so much and asked so little in return. If we do not care for those who provided us with the very freedoms we enjoy today, what message are we sending to the brave service men and women fighting overseas now? We cannot break promises made to veterans of previous conflicts and expect today’s service men and women to believe the promises we make to them.
The 532,000 veterans in Tennessee deserve deeds to recognize their service and sacrifice, not just words. We can never fully repay them for their sacrifices, but we have an obligation to provide those who have served with the health care and benefits they have earned.
On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, it should be our pledge to leave no veteran behind when they return home.
