A New Direction for Our Veterans and Troops 

For more information on what the Democratic leadership has done for our veterans and troops in the 111th Congress, click here.

Every day we see the tremendous commitment and sacrifice made by the men and women of our Armed Forces. Our military men and women are among our most precious resources. I am proud of the important legislation Congress passed in the 110th Congress, including the largest increase in veterans’ funding in the 77-year history of the Veterans Administration as part of the fiscal year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill. This legislation included provisions to strengthen quality health care, and focused on providing benefits to those veterans recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.

In addition, the 110th Congress passed the GI Bill for the 21st Century, which was signed into law on June 30, 2008. This legislation restores full, four-year college scholarships for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

I remain committed to making our nation’s veterans a main priority by supporting and cosponsoring numerous pieces of legislation:

111th Congress:

H.R.775 : Military Surviving Spouse Equity Act

H.R.23 : Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2009

H.R.816 : Military Retirees’ Health Care Protection Act

110th Congress:

S.22 : Veterans Education Assistance Act

H.CON.RES.49 : Recognizing the 75th anniversary of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and commending recipients of the Purple Heart for their courageous demonstrations of gallantry and heroism on behalf of the United States.

H.CON.RES.162 : Expressing the sense of Congress that Congress and the President should increase basic pay for members of the Armed Forces.

H.RES.326 : Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

H.R.23 : Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2007

H.R.303 : Retired Pay Restoration Act

H.R.327 : Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act

H.R.579 :  Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act

H.R.634 : American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act

H.R.1110 : To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow Federal civilian and military retirees to pay health insurance premiums on a pretax basis and to allow a deduction for TRICARE supplemental premiums.

H.R.1268 : Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act of 2007

H.R.1632 : Improving Veterans' Reemployment Act of 2007

H.R.1944 : Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act of 2007

H.R.2005 : Rural Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2007

H.R.2219 : Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline Act of 2007

H.R.3008 : Rural Veterans Services Outreach and Training Act

For more about my work on veterans' affairs, click here.