| Fighting for our nation’s veterans has been a top priority of mine
since the day I was sworn in to the United States Congress. Our nation’s
veterans have done so much for us -- they have made the ultimate sacrifice
to serve our country and protect our freedoms. I saw it firsthand this
week when I visited injured soldiers from Arkansas who are at Walter Reed
Army Hospital here in Washington D.C. For their dedication and their brave
spirit, providing them with a secure retirement and sufficient health care
benefits is the least we can do.
Many of us in Congress have worked hard to try to increase military
pay to help our soldiers
and provide increased health benefits to reservists, national guard
soldiers and their families. In fact, I am continuing to work to extend
TRICARE health coverage to all military reservists, guardsmen and their
families. There is no question our pressing military needs abroad are creating
shorter and shorter lead times for many of our reservists and guardsmen,
requiring them to be healthy and medically ready on a moments notice. Providing
the same health benefits soldiers receive to reservists and guardsmen is
simply the right thing to do.
Furthering my commitment to our nation’s veterans, this week I joined
my colleagues in Arkansas’s congressional delegation in Washington D.C.,
and met with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to discuss adding even more
health clinics for veterans in Arkansas. Places like Monticello desperately
need these clinics for their veterans -- not only in Drew County
but in surrounding counties in Southeast Arkansas.
Currently we have eight community-based outpatient clinics in Arkansas
and eight more are on the way. In fact, on Saturday I’ll be participating
in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the official opening of the Veterans
Affairs outpatient health clinic in Mena. These clinics provide critical
health care services to veterans in rural areas where hospitals are limited.
But there is no question that we need more clinics in Arkansas – especially
when our new veterans return home from places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
Providing adequate health coverage and benefits for our nation’s veterans
should transcend party lines. Unfortunately there are some in Congress
who want to shortchange the services we provide to our veterans, which
is nothing but disheartening. But to the veterans and their families
of Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional district, I want all of you to know
that I am -- and will always be -- committed to you. Your courage
and your sacrifice to defend the freedoms of us at home and of those abroad
will never be forgotten. |
