Veterans and Military
New Mexico is home to approximately 176,000 veterans, including about 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. As many as 7,000 New Mexico veterans are homeless, according to the New Mexico department of Veterans Services. Many have lost their jobs due to extended deployments and are forced to start over once they return home. They not only need the health care they are entitled to, but we need to provide them with access to education and job training and offer the resources to help them successfully reintegrate into their families and communities.
Benefits for Our Veterans
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. I applaud the Democratic Congress for passing a new GI Bill that will provide returning troops with four year scholarships. In Congress, I will support expanded benefits for our veterans 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. We must consider the care of our veterans as part of the cost of the war. An improved GI Bill, which provides affordable and accessible health care and proper job training and benefits, will pay dividends both in the economy and in a promising new generation of returning military veterans. We must continue to provide our veterans with the care and benefits they deserve when they return home.
Access for Rural Veterans
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.
Mental 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. Recently, the Bush Administration has sent soldiers back into war zones with lingering mental health problems. This irresponsible and neglectful behavior undermines the strength of our military and unnecessarily endangers American lives.
Cannon Air Force Base
Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis has changed its mission to survive into the 21st century as a base for special-operations training. In this way Cannon will be an asset to our national security and to the local economy. As your Congressman I will fight every day to ensure its mission is protected and fully funded.
Our Soldiers
In Iraq, our forces have been sent into battle without adequate equipment to protect them. It is inexcusable to ask our armed forces to serve in a war zone without providing them with the necessary tools and equipment for their safety and success. In Congress I will fight for these needed resources to ensure we never send our men and women into harm’s way without the proper equipment and training.
American soldiers have also been forced to serve extended and repeated deployments in Iraq. By beginning the withdrawal from Iraq and concentrating our diplomatic efforts on achieving a political solution, we can begin to properly fund, rebuild and modernize the military so our troops will always have the proper training, rest and preparation for protecting our interests abroad and maintaining the peace in the 21st century.
Benefits for Our Veterans
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. I applaud the Democratic Congress for passing a new GI Bill that will provide returning troops with four year scholarships. In Congress, I will support expanded benefits for our veterans 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. We must consider the care of our veterans as part of the cost of the war. An improved GI Bill, which provides affordable and accessible health care and proper job training and benefits, will pay dividends both in the economy and in a promising new generation of returning military veterans. We must continue to provide our veterans with the care and benefits they deserve when they return home.
Access for Rural Veterans
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.
Mental 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. Recently, the Bush Administration has sent soldiers back into war zones with lingering mental health problems. This irresponsible and neglectful behavior undermines the strength of our military and unnecessarily endangers American lives.
Cannon Air Force Base
Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis has changed its mission to survive into the 21st century as a base for special-operations training. In this way Cannon will be an asset to our national security and to the local economy. As your Congressman I will fight every day to ensure its mission is protected and fully funded.
Our Soldiers
In Iraq, our forces have been sent into battle without adequate equipment to protect them. It is inexcusable to ask our armed forces to serve in a war zone without providing them with the necessary tools and equipment for their safety and success. In Congress I will fight for these needed resources to ensure we never send our men and women into harm’s way without the proper equipment and training.
American soldiers have also been forced to serve extended and repeated deployments in Iraq. By beginning the withdrawal from Iraq and concentrating our diplomatic efforts on achieving a political solution, we can begin to properly fund, rebuild and modernize the military so our troops will always have the proper training, rest and preparation for protecting our interests abroad and maintaining the peace in the 21st century.
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