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| At Work in Congress |
| Keeping Faith With Our Veterans: |
As a Vietnam veteran, I have experienced firsthand the horrors
of war. I served two tours of duty, commanding a swift boat in Vietnam’s
Mekong Delta as a member of the U.S. Navy. I have witnessed the sacrifices
our men and women have made and the courage they have displayed in faithfully
serving our country. Every day I carry with me lessons from being in combat
that help me to recognize the needs of our nation’s veterans and
the problems they confront.
I only hope that my devotion to the veterans of this country reveals itself
through my votes on the Senate floor and in the work that I do in the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts. I have always believed that we have a basic obligation
to ensure that our nation's veterans have adequate benefits and the best
possible health care to meet their needs. I will continue to fight for
the rights that veterans have earned and so rightly deserve.
Addressing the persistent lack of funding for veterans’ health continues
to dominate Senator Kerry’s work on veterans’ issues. New England’s
veterans health care programs have been under severe financial strain for
several years, and the Senator continues to work to boost funding and ensure
that veterans have access to the quality health care they were promised.
Efforts underway to improve the efficiency of health care delivery in New
England are beginning to show results, but the number of veterans using
these services continues to rise.
In addition to supporting a Fiscal Year 2002 budget amendment to increase
funding for veterans medical care by $1.718 billion, Senator Kerry has
supported a number of bills aimed at increasing or simplifying veterans’ access
to the full range of benefits they were promised. These include bills
to increase survivor benefits, to modify and extend educational assistance
under the GI Bill, and to permit retirees to receive both disability
compensation and their retirement pay. To ensure continuing public support
for and understanding of the sacrifices made by America’s veterans,
Senator Kerry also cosponsored legislation designating the week of November
11, 2001 as “National Veterans Awareness Week.”
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