Subject: HILLARY CLINTON: A RECORD OF SERVICE TO VETERANS
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 15:29:13 -0500
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

HILLARY CLINTON: A RECORD OF SERVICE TO VETERANS

*“When I’m President, I will continue this work and this record. I will
summon the resources and will of this nation to give our veterans the gold
standard health care, earned benefits, and support they deserve. Our
veterans have served America – and it is time that America served our
veterans. I will start first by ensuring that my Veterans Affairs
Department is on your side. And that my VA Secretary is a true veterans’
advocate who understands the problems of our veterans. I’m not going to
have a Secretary of Veterans Affairs – I’m going to have a secretary for
veterans, someone who will be qualified and committed and dedicated every
single day to help our veterans. I will also work to guarantee funding for
VA health. It is outrageous that veterans have to come every year to the
Congress begging for the money they need to get the health care they
deserve. We’re going to work toward mandatory funding and end the yearly
budgets.”*

*- Hillary Clinton, *August 20, 2007

*Passed legislation helping families care for veterans with traumatic brain
injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder. *Hillary Clinton
introduced the Heroes
at Home Act of 2006 <http://be/> to help family members care for veterans
that return home with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain
injuries. Clinton successfully <http://beta.congress.gov/ame> fought to
include an important part of that bill — funding for community-based
programs that provide readjustment and mental health assistance to National
Guard members, Reservists, and their families – into the Department of
Defense Appropriations bill
<http://beta.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-bill/5631> enacted in
September, 2006. With the help
<http://beta.congress.gov/congressional-record/2007/03/29/senate-section/article/S4163-1>
of
the Wounded Warrior Project, the National Military Family Association, the
Military Officers Association of America, and the American Academy of
Neurology, Clinton introduced
<http://beta.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/senate-bill/1065/> the Heroes
at Home Act of 2007 to build on that previous work.

*Worked to increase the survivor benefits for military families from
$12,000 to $100,000. *Hillary Clinton worked with Republicans and Democrats
in the U.S. Senate to try to increase the benefits to family survivors of
our nation’s veterans. Clinton joined
<http://beta.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/44> with
then-Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) on the Military Survivor Benefit
Improvement Act of 2005. Remarking on the importance of the bill, Clinton
said
<http://web.archive.org/web/20081219053213/http:/clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=233879>
America
owes “our young men and women in uniform a tremendous debt of gratitude and
they should rest assure that if something happens to them on the front
lines, their families will be taken care of financially. This bill will
ensure that our service members’ next-to-kin receive the benefits they
deserve.”

*Teamed up with Republicans to expand health care for National Guard
members and reservists. *Hillary Clinton worked
<http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/02/19/139108/sen-graham-adapts-to-the-times.html>
 with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to provide full military health
benefits to National Guard members and reservists. Clinton noted
<http://web.arc/> that she and Graham worked for four years on that
mission, even though “many people thought I would never talk to Lindsey
Graham, let alone work with him… So Senator Graham and I said we’re going
to make sure that if you’re a National Guard or Reserve member, you will
have access to health care and you’ll be part of this great American
military from the very beginning. We will take care of you and your
families.” Senator Graham praised
<http://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=a2f76abd-4f0c-437c-a935-adfc521875cd&Region_id=&Issue_id=5a77d92b-bffd-4239-9a18-e245609f050c>
Clinton’s
“longstanding commitment to ensuring that members of our National Guard and
Reserve and their families have access to the health care benefits they
need and deserve.”

*Authored a new G.I. Bill of Rights to help veterans adjust and re-enter
the workforce after deployment*. Hillary Clinton introduced
<http://beta.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/senate-bill/1409> the
21st Century
G.I. Bill of Rights to help veterans achieve their American dream through
educational opportunities, a new veteran-specific micro-loan program, and
an expanded home loan program. Clinton said
<http://web.archive.org/web/20080528215801/http:/www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=3895>
she
took “tremendous personal pride in the fact that the VFW has endorsed” the
legislative package. Describing the new G.I. Bill of Rights, Clinton said
<http://web.archive.org/web/20080528215801/http:/www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=3895>
it
“provides educational opportunities – from college, to trade and technical
training, to certification and licensing programs. It expands opportunities
for veterans to buy, build, repair and improve their homes. It creates a
Veterans Micro-loaning Program to provide loans up to $100,000 at very low
interest rates and without collateral, so that veterans can start their own
small businesses.”

*Fought to expand retirement pay and disability compensation for veterans
disabled during their service. *Hillary Clinton cosponsored the Retired Pay
Restoration Act of 2001
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-record-of-service-to-veterans/%22ht>
, 2003 <http://beta.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/senate-bill/392>, 2005
<http://beta.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/558/>, and 2007
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-record-of-service-to-veterans/%22htt>.
This legislation sought to expand retirement pay and disability
compensation for all of America’s veterans disabled in the service of their
country.

*Expanded the Family and Medical Leave Act to families of wounded service
members. *The defense authorization bill
<http://beta.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/4986> enacted in
2008 included legislation introduced
<http://web.archive.org/web/20081219031420/http:/clint> by Senator Chris
Dodd and Senator Clinton to allow families of wounded service members to
take up to six months unpaid leave to care for their wounded family member.
Clinton cosponsored similar legislation in 2003
<http://beta.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/senate-bill/304> and 2005
<http://beta.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/282>.