Oct 10, 2020 2 min read

Joe Biden has a proven record of ensuring that U.S. service members and veterans are treated with the dignity, respect, and gratitude they deserve. As parents of a son who deployed to Iraq, Joe and Jill Biden understand the sacrifices of service members.

As a senator, Joe advocated for Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange, co-sponsored the post-9/11 GI Bill, and fought to increase funding for Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles – saving thousands of lives of service members. And that is only some of what Joe did to support service members and veterans while in the Senate.

In the White House, the Obama-Biden Administration cut the population of homeless veterans by almost half and reduced the unemployment rate for veterans by more than half. They reduced the backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs by nearly 90% and increased their overall funding by more than 85%, including a significant increase in funding for mental health.

As president, Joe will rebuild trust in the Department of Veterans Affairs. He will work with Congress to eliminate co-pays for preventive health care for veterans, improve health services for female veterans, and provide funding to ensure child care at all VA Medical Centers. He will expand funding for treatment of alcohol and opioid misuse, mental health treatment, and access to telehealth, particularly in rural areas. He will modernize VA hospitals and clinics to better serve our veterans.

Finally, service members and veterans face an elevated risk of dying by suicide. On average, 20 veterans and service members die by suicide every day. Joe will ensure a multi-faceted, substantive, and sustained commitment to address this as the public health emergency that it is.

As a veteran, I am proud to support Joe Biden, a champion for service members and veterans.

Sharon Laffey

Claysville