Treating our Veterans with RespectBarack Obama introduced the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act. The bill improves the condition of troop housing at hospitals like Walter Reed, streamlines the process for wounded troops deciding whether or not they can stay in the military, provides greater information to recovering servicemembers, requires the hiring of more caseworkers, and provides more support to family members who care for injured troops.Sheltering and Rehabilitating Homeless VeteransOne in three homeless males in this country is a veteran. That’s unacceptable. Barack Obama authored legislation to extend and expand critical homeless veteran rehabilitation programs and make affordable housing available. As president, he will establish a Zero Tolerance policy for veterans falling into homelessness.Fighting for Disability BenefitsIn Illinois, Obama led efforts to empower veterans who received inadequate disability benefits. He forced the VA to notify veterans in Illinois and other states about their right to review past claims. The resulting outreach led to significant numbers of veterans getting the benefits they deserve. As president, he will rebuild the Veterans Benefits Administration by switching to electronic records, hiring more caseworkers, and providing them more training and accountability.Treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)Barack Obama helped stop a VA effort to force some veterans to prove again that they suffered from PTSD to maintain their benefits. He also passed an amendment ensuring that all servicemembers would be properly screened for TBI. In 2007, Obama helped introduce a bill to personalize and improve overall care for TBI patients.We have to understand that for far too many troops and their families, the war doesn’t end when they come home. Just the other day our own government’s top psychiatric researcher said that because of inadequate mental health care, the number of suicides among veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan may actually exceed the number of combat deaths. In the Senate, Obama helped lead a bipartisan effort to stop the unfair practice of kicking out troops who suffer from them. And when he is President, he will enhance mental health screening and treatment at all levels: from enlistment, to deployment, to reentry into civilian life. Easing the Transition of Veterans into Civilian LifeBarack Obama introduced legislation that would help troops transition to civilian life after they leave the military. His legislation would provide new veterans with electronic medical and service records, monitor health trends and improve transportation services.
