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Obama's Strong Record of Support for Veterans

By Jeralyn

Sen. Barack Obama has a strong record of support for veterans' rights, including legislation he passed and supported while serving on the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and in Illinois. Compare and contrast with that of Sen. John McCain:

• As a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Obama passed legislation to improve care and slash red tape for our wounded warriors recovering at places like Walter Reed. He passed laws to help homeless veterans and offered an innovative solution to prevent at-risk veterans from falling into homelessness.

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• Obama led a bipartisan effort in the Senate to try to halt the military's unfair practice of discharging service members for having a service-connected psychological injury.

• He fought for fair treatment of Illinois veterans' claims and forced the VA to conduct an unprecedented outreach campaign to disabled veterans with lower than-average benefits.

• Obama passed legislation to stop a VA review of closed PTSD cases that could have led to a reduction in veterans' benefits.

• He passed an amendment to ensure that all service members returning from Iraq are properly screened for traumatic brain injuries.

• He introduced legislation to direct the VA and Pentagon to fix disjointed records systems and improve outreach to members of the National Guard and Reserves. (pdf)

• He also has a strong plan for the future.

As Gen. Wesley Clark pointed out months ago, John McCain has not acted in the best interests of our veterans.

Here's what McCain says he stands for. His voting record belies that. Read the examples. Bottom line:

"John McCain voted against veterans in 2004, '05, '06 and '07," says Jeffrey David Cox, who spent twenty-two years as a VA nurse before moving to the American Federation of Government Employees, where he serves as secretary-treasurer (AFGE represents employees of several federal agencies, including the VA).

See also VoteVets.org. There's a reason troops deployed to Iraq donated 6:1 to Obama over McCain.

McCain talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk for veterans' rights.

McCain does not have a positive, proven record of helping veterans. Barack Obama does. Obama not only has relevant experience but the right position on veterans' issues.

Also check out Vets for Obama.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 09, 2008 (boomark / email).