Ben on Making our Veterans a Priority
New Mexico is home to an estimated 176,000 veterans, including an estimated 20,000 Iraq veterans. The needs of our returning veterans must be a priority. About a third of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are estimated to have a serious mental-health problem such as depression or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and as many as 7,000 New Mexico veterans are homeless.
In Congress I will work to allow local and rural clinics to provide health care and be reimbursed by the Veterans Administration so that our veterans don't have to travel hundreds of miles for health care.
Our returning troops deserve mandatory mental-health screening and a program to better monitor their mental and physical health in this era of Walter Reed-style bureaucratic disgraces. The women and men serving in our armed forces deserve decent pay so they don’t have to struggle just to live when they return home. In Congress I would support a World War II-style GI Bill that would stimulate the U.S. economy and give our returning veterans the opportunities they have earned after risking their lives for our country.
Veterans' spouses and families are often forgotten by the government, and I will work to expand family access to benefits and services.
The Iraq War costs an estimated $275 million per day. These investments in our veterans are affordable in comparison to the billions being spent on the Iraq War. An improved GI Bill, affordable and accessible health care and proper job training and benefits would pay dividends both in the economy and in a promising new generation of returning military veterans.
