Issue Position: National Defense

Issue Position

"As the U.S. Marine Corps so eloquently puts it, "For those who fight for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.' A strong national defense means both ensuring the survival of freedom here at home, but also providing for the brave men and women who have served our nation with courage and who continue to put their lives on the line so that we don't have to."

-Congressman Sanford Bishop

Having represented the Albany Marine Corps Logistics Base, Fort Benning and Moody Air Force Base, Congressman Bishop continues to put U.S. service members at the top of his legislative agenda. He serves on both the House Appropriations Committee's Subcomittees on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security and has championed measures to improve housing and living conditions for active duty personnel and to make sure that that they have the armor and equipment they need to get the job done and get them home safely. Congressman Bishop recently authored the "Healthy Troops Act," which, if enacted would ensure that all men and women in uniform receive a "hands-on" medical exam both before and after they are deployed to combat and led the bipartisan effort to pass the "Healthy Troops Amendment" to the FY'06 Defense Authorization Bill which requires a study into the effectiveness of the self-administered medical questionnaires currently being used by the Department of Defense. Congressman Bishop also believes that our commitment to our troops should not end once they stop wearing the uniform. He has backed legislation to end Concurrent Receipt, protect veterans' health benefits and ensure the full payment of survival benefits to surviving spouses.

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