United States Senator John Cornyn, Texas

"As the son of a veteran, I am personally dedicated to looking out for the interests of all military personnel, active and retired, who call Texas home. The honor-bound agreement between our men and women in uniform and our nation does not end at retirement. No veteran should ever be forgotten."

                          -- Senator John Cornyn

• We must ensure that veterans receive the health care, retirement pay, and disability benefits that they deserve.
• I will work to improve the quality of life for all veterans. They have paid a debt to our country that we must not forgive or forget.

Senator John Cornyn learned the value of patriotic service to our country from his father, who spent 31 years in the military, beginning as a B-17 pilot in World War II.  Growing up in an Air Force family and moving from base to base, he saw first-hand the caliber of those who dedicate years to defending freedom at home and abroad. 

Senator Cornyn knows that our nation can never do enough to repay those who have selflessly served and sacrificed for our country.  He is dedicated to making certain that our nation's active duty, National Guard and Reserve military forces get the best training and equipment, and that our veterans receive the health care access, services, and benefits they so rightly deserve.

Over the past six years, Senator Cornyn has steadfastly supported our veterans and military personnel and strongly advocated on their behalf.

Senator Cornyn's accomplishments include:

• Voted to authorize concurrent receipt of military retirement benefits and VA disability compensation for retirees with at least a 50% disability. 
• Worked to allow the immediate payment of concurrent receipt for the most severely disabled veterans.
• Supported the elimination of the "Widow's Tax" that reduced the Survivor Benefit Plan for widows at age 62.
• Supported the America's Fallen Heroes Act, prohibiting demonstrations at military funerals held at national cemeteries in order to preserve the dignity of our fallen troops.
• Supported expanding the eligibility for TRICARE to all members of the Selected Reserve.
• Successfully fought to expand current G.I. Bill educational benefits for service members and, for the first time, to allow service members to transfer unused educational benefits through the G.I. Bill to their spouses and children.
• Helped expand Combat Related Special Compensation to all military retirees whose disabling condition was due to combat or combat related operations.  
• Pushed for increasing the maximum coverage of Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance and Veterans’ Group Life Insurance from $250,000 to $400,000 and increasing the DoD-provided death gratuity from $12,420 to $100,000.
• Worked to secure pay raises and increased benefits for military personnel.
• Successfully fought to expand access to VA health care for Texas veterans by urging the VA to establish new community-based outpatient clinics in Texas.
• Cosponsored the Military Citizenship Act expediting the naturalization process for men and women serving in the U.S. military who are not U.S. citizens.
• Supported authorizing the construction of six new national cemeteries and made permanent the State Cemetery Grants Program, which assists states in establishing veteran's cemeteries.  
• Supported a constitutional amendment prohibiting the desecration of our most revered national symbol, the American flag.
• Made housing more affordable for Texas veterans through an expansion of the Qualified Veterans Mortgage Bond program.
• Cosponsored the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act:
  • Mandates development of a policy for the care of injured service members during their transition from the military to civilian life (and the VA health care system) to ensure no service member “falls through the cracks.” 
  • Requires development of a uniform electronic health record for use between the VA and DoD, to create a seamless transition to VA care. 
  • Provides enhanced health care and benefits to injured service members. 
  • Reforms and improves the DoD Disability Evaluation System. 
  • Requires the DoD to establish centers of excellence for Traumatic Brain Injuries and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
• Sponsored the Veterans' Housing Benefits Enhancement Act, much of which was enacted into law in 2008, to ensure that troops/veterans with severe burns and other traumatic injuries are eligible to receive the same benefits for housing adaptation grants as other disabled veterans.
• Helped dramatically increase VA health care funding by 34% and VA mental health funding by 27% during the past four years.
• Supported increasing the Survivors' and Dependents' Educational allowance by 34% and expanding the GI Bill eligibility to include self-employment and entrepreneurship courses, making sure our veterans and their families are afforded every opportunity to gain a quality education.
• Voted to support a Constitutional amendment prohibiting the desecration of our most revered national symbol, the American flag. 

Senator Cornyn continues to work in the 111th Congress to support veterans:

• Cosponsoring the Rural Veterans Health Care Improvement Act, which would authorize the VA to pay travel expenses for veterans who are forced to travel great distances to VA facilities.
• Sponsoring the Military Voting Protection Act to ensure that troops serving overseas have their votes counted, by requiring DoD to collect and express-ship our overseas troops’ completed absentee ballots back to the U.S.
• Supports legislation to address veterans' mental health and “invisible” wounds of war such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), including the following bills:
  • Supported the Mental Health Care and Other Improvements Act of 2008, to improve veterans' mental health care and substance abuse treatment, enhance mental health outreach, and improve VA research on PTSD and TBI.
  • Cosponsoring the Veterans’ Mental Health Outreach and Access Act to require the VA to help Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans and their families gain access to mental health care and readjustment services, especially for those who do not live near a VA facility.
  • Cosponsoring the Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury and Health Programs Improvement Act, requiring the VA to develop personalized plans for the rehabilitation of veterans with TBI (using both VA and non-VA facilities) prior to their discharge from inpatient care.
  • Cosponsoring the Honoring Our Nation’s Obligation to Returning Warriors Act, which gives active-duty troops the same access to community-based counseling centers that our veterans now use; increases the number of behavioral health specialists to serve troops and veterans; extends survivor benefits to families of military personnel who commit suicide; and better prepares troops for combat deployment through improved prevention, early detection, intervention, and treatment of PTSD.