Issue Position: Veterans

Issue Position

"I learned a lot about honoring veterans from my family. My father, three uncles and my aunt served in World War II. I know the sacrifices our young men and women make every day protecting our country. Our veterans deserve our commitment and we must resolve that we will never leave them without the care and benefits they have earned serving our nation." -Susan Bysiewicz

A Record of Serving Connecticut Veterans

Helped servicemen and servicewomen vote: Susan authored legislation that ensures absentee ballots are promptly sent to servicemen and women overseas, recognizing that those protecting America's freedom in the military must be guaranteed the same rights to cast their votes as all citizens.

Fought Bush administration's attempt to restrict voter registration: Susan led a successful national effort against a Bush administration plan to prevent veterans from registering to vote at VA hospitals.

Honored veterans' service: Susan led a statewide initiative to honor the service of thousands of World War II and Korean veterans and thank them for their commitment to our democracy.

Susan's Priorities for Veterans

Providing better health care for our veterans: Far too often our veterans have to wait too long to get the health care that they have earned while serving their country. Susan believes that we must strengthen and expand VA hospitals to meet the growing medical needs of our servicemen and women who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. No veteran should have to wait weeks to see a doctor or be rushed through critical examinations due to overcrowding and increase demand in the VA system.

Combating Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome: Susan believes it is critical that we aggressively treat mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress syndrome, that prevents our veterans from returning to healthy, civilian lives. She will fight to ensure that the VA system has the funding it needs to take on this growing challenge.

Tackling homelessness: Susan believes we must increase our efforts to fight homelessness in the veterans' community. There are many reasons why this problem has grown, and it must be combated with an intense focus on improving veteran health/mental care, job training and job placement services.

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