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“But as I listened to Seamus explain why he’d enlisted, the absolute faith he had in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all that any of us might hope for in a child. And then I asked myself: When Seamus comes home, will we serve him as well as he served us?”
— Springfield, IL, July 16, 2005
Whether you agree with the Iraq War or not, there is one thing that is for certain. The manner in which our nation treats its veterans is a disgrace. Even while Senator Obama has been opposing the war, he has resolutely stood up for giving our veterans the respect, treatment and care they so richly deserve. Pro–Veteran legislation introduced and supported by Senator Obama includes:
Our government will spend billions of dollars to prosecute the war while consistently shortchanging programs for our veterans. Our veterans should be a top priority.
“But the benefits are still too low and the waits are still too long, and so we’ve got a ways to go. It’s not enough to simply wave a flag and welcome our veterans with words of praise — we need to get serious about solving these problems and honoring their service. We held a hearing in Chicago about these issues just the other week, and I heard from a veteran whose hands had been crushed in an accident. Twenty years later, he’s still caught in the VA bureaucracy, trying to obtain disability benefits. Twenty years later.
“If this is the best we can do for our veterans who’ve already come home, what will we do for the hundreds of thousands who will, God–willing, return from Iraq and Afghanistan? Veterans already have difficulty accessing VA care, and none of us want those who are still fighting to be greeted by a system that tells them ‘Thanks for fighting for your country — now take a number.’”
— Springfield, IL, July 16, 2005
“Today we shouldn’t be scraping to find the bare minimum in benefits and health care for our veterans. And with the largest deployment of troops since Vietnam fighting for freedom in an increasingly dangerous world, we should be talking about a GI Bill for the 21st Century.”
— Springfield, IL, July 16, 2005