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Candidates' Positions and Views on Other Issues where Information is Available: |
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Any responses to Veterans issue questions presented on the bottom of this page are those of Barack Obama, Ralph Nader, Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr and John Mccain seeking U.S. President & Vice President. The links immediately below will provide pages of candidate responses to other issues, with the first link to a report of all the issues and questions available to Barack Obama, Ralph Nader, Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr and John Mccain. Since many candidates choose not to respond to many questions, links are only provided where we have response information. Also, you may need to scroll down to compare responses if many candidates are seeking this office. |
| Veterans Issues |
* Barack Obama - D
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Ralph Nader - I
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Chuck Baldwin - CON
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| Veterans, a General Statement |
Obama: I'll be a President who ensures that America serves our men and women in uniform as well as they've served us, and that's why I'm proud to have the support of these veterans advising me on the issues facing our troops and veterans. After seven years of an Administration that has stretched our military to the breaking point, ignored deplorable conditions at some VA hospitals, and neglected the planning and preparation necessary to care for our returning heroes, America's veterans deserve a President who will fight for them not just when it's easy or convenient, but every hour of every day for the next four years.
Source: www.barackobama.com/2007/11/12/obama_campaign_announces_natio_2.php Date: 11/12/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Veterans' Health and Medical Care |
Obama: In September 2006, Senator Obama introduced the Lane Evans Veterans Health and Benefits Improvement Act, which would help veterans transition from the Pentagon health system to the VA system by extending the window in which new veterans can get mental health care from two years to five years. The Lane Evans bill would improve transition services for members of the National Guard and Reserves. It also would require the VA and the Department of Defense to work together to track new veterans entering the VA for better budget planning and monitoring of emerging health trends. Senator Obama passed an amendment that became law requiring the Defense Department to report to Congress on the delayed development of an electronic medical records system compatible with the VA's electronic medical records system. DOD's delay in developing such a system has created obstacles for service members transitioning into the VA health care system.
"When a veteran is denied health care, we are all dishonored. When 400,000 veterans are stuck on a waiting list for claims, we need a new sense of urgency in this country. And when we've got young veterans of a misguided war in Iraq sleeping on the streets of our cities and towns, we need a change in Washington. As President, I won't stand for hundreds of thousands of veterans waiting for benefits. We'll hire additional claims workers. We'll bring together veterans groups and the VA to work out a claims process that is fair and fast. And instead of shutting veterans out, we'll make sure that our disabled vets receive the benefits they deserve, and we'll allow all veterans back into the VA health care system."
Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/08/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| GI Bill & Veterans' Benefits |
Obama: I will revamp an overburdened benefits system. The VFW has done a remarkable job helping more than 120,000 veterans a year navigate the broken VBA bureaucracy, but you shouldn't have to do it alone. I will hire additional workers, and create an electronic system that is fully linked up to military records and the VA's health network.
I'll also keep faith with America's veterans by helping them achieve their dreams. We need a G.I. Bill for the 21st century. An Obama Administration will expand access to education for our veterans, and increase benefits to keep pace with rising costs. All who wear the uniform of the United States are entitled to the same opportunity that my grandfather had under the G.I. Bill.
Source: www.barackobama.com/2007/08/21/obama_vows_to_keep_sacred_trus.php Date: 08/21/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Retired Veterans Benefits and Health Care |
Obama: Protect Aging Veterans. As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Barack Obama has worked to ensure that our aging veterans are able to receive their disability benefits and the health care that they deserve. He has worked with Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to require the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide veterans in six states, including Illinois, with notification of their rights to appeal any benefit decisions. As a result of these appeals, many veterans are starting to see larger benefit checks. As president, Barack Obama will fully fund the VA, fix the Veterans Benefits Administration, and reduce the claims backlog. Obama will also immediately reverse the unfair ban on healthcare enrollment of certain groups of veterans, including "Priority 8" veterans who often earn modest incomes, and establish a national "zero tolerance" policy to prevent veterans from falling into homelessness.
Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/08/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Survivor Benefits |
Obama: Following reports of neglect at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Obama introduced the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act. The bill improves the condition of troop housing, streamlines the process for seeking care, provides greater information to recovering servicemembers, requires the hiring of more caseworkers, and provides more support to family members who care for injured troops:
Source: BarackObama.com Date: 08/26/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Disabled Veterans Health Care |
Obama: Washington says that they support the troops. They give long speeches about valor and sacrifice. But when it comes time to sending our troops into battle with the proper equipment and ensure that veterans have what they need when they get home, they don't do anything except slap a yellow ribbon on the back of their SUV. That's how come our men and women have to use scrap metal to protect their Humvees. Our veterans end up living among mice and mold. They stare at stacks of paperwork. They thought they left the frontline in Iraq but they came home to a new frontline of red tape and bureaucracy. This is unacceptable. When our veterans come home, I don't want them crawling around a dumpster for a meal or a box for shelter. I don't want them drowning in whiskey to silence the PTSD. I don't want that for our veterans. We know they deserve more. So let's make a promise today--and say that, right here and right now, is when we begin to put together a comprehensive plan for our veterans.
Source: 2007 IAFF Presidential Forum in Washington DC Date: 03/14/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Homeless Veterans |
Obama: Senator Obama authored legislation to extend and expand critically important programs to stop homelessness among American veterans. Working with Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Larry Craig (R-ID), he passed legislation to provide comprehensive services and affordable housing options to veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Housing and Urban Development and community organizations.
"And we'll have a simple policy when it comes to homeless veterans: zero tolerance. We'll expand housing vouchers. We'll set up a new supportive services program to prevent at-risk veterans and their families from sliding into homelessness. We'll stand with veterans in their hour of need, just as they have stood up for us."
Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/08/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Vetreran Job Retraining |
Obama: No Response |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) |
Obama: But we know that the sacred trust cannot expire when the uniform comes off. When we fail to keep faith with our veterans, the bond between our nation and our nation's heroes becomes frayed. When a veteran is denied care, we are all dishonored. It's not enough to lay a wreath on Memorial Day, or to pay tribute to our veterans in speeches. A proud and grateful nation owes more than ceremonial gestures and kind words.
Caring for those who serve -- and for their families -- is a fundamental responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief. It is not a separate cost. It is a cost of war. It is something I've fought for as a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. And it is something I will fight for as President of the United States.
It's time for comprehensive reform. When I am President, building a 21st century VA to serve our veterans will be an equal priority to building a 21st century military to fight our wars. My Secretary of Veteran's Affairs will be just as important as my Secretary of Defense. No more shortfalls -- it's time to fully fund the VA medical center. No more delays -- it's time to pass on-time VA budgets each and every year. No more means testing -- it's time to allow all veterans back into the VA. I will immediately reverse a policy that led the VA to turn away nearly 1 million middle and low-income veterans since 2003.
The VA will also be at the cutting edge of my plan for universal health care, with better preventive care, more research and specialty treatment, and more Vet Centers, particularly in rural areas.
Source: www.barackobama.com/2007/08/21/obama_vows_to_keep_sacred_trus.php Date: 08/21/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Veterans Funding |
Obama: We tried to tell the Bush administration you need an additional $2 billion to provide services to troops who are coming home. They said no. Everything's covered. Six months through, they had to come back and say, it turns out we did need it after all. Part of the reason is because they have been trying to keep the costs down of this war and have not fully factored in the sacred obligation that we have to make sure that every single veteran has the services that they need.
Source: 2007 Dem. debate at Saint Anselm College Date: 06/03/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Disability Claims |
Obama: Obama said that he will improve medical care for veterans and help eliminate bureaucratic backlogs that delay disability claims by making sure that every service-member has individual electronic medical and service records that immediately transfer to the (VA) system. Obama also said he will hire additional VA claims raters and convert all veterans' benefits paperwork into electronic records to speed up applications.
Source: www.barackobama.com/2007/10/05/obama_discusses_plan_to_improv.php Date: 10/05/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Brain Injuries (TBI) |
Obama: In 2005, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced it would contact veterans with severe PTSD and ask them to prove that they deserved their disability payments. This review of disability claims was highly disruptive to veterans still suffering serious health effects from their military service. Senator Obama fought this review. He and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) passed legislation to limit it and helped publicly pressure the agency to finally abandon the effort in November of 2005. Senator Obama also worked with Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) to pass an amendment ensuring that all service members returning from Iraq are properly screened for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). TBI is being called the signature injury of the Iraq war. The blast from improvised explosive devices can jar the brain, causing bruising or permanent damage. Concussions can have huge health effects including slowed thinking, headaches, memory loss, sleep disturbance, attention and concentration deficits, and irritability.
Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/08/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Persian Gulf War Illnesses |
Obama: No Response |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Agent Orange Related Illness |
Obama: No Response |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Walter Reed Army Medical Center Scandal |
Obama: I visited Walter Reed repeatedly. Typically what would happen is we would go to visit troops in the medical facility, and people will acknowledge that the medical facility at Walter Reed does great work. Unfortunately, it turned out that the outpatient facilities were disastrous. That's why we now have legislation to make sure not only that we're just painting over some of the mold in there, but also making it easier for families & veterans to negotiate the system once they're outpatients.
Source: 2007 Dem. debate at Saint Anselm College Date: 06/03/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| POWs and MIAs |
Obama: No Response |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Veterans Administration (VA) |
Obama: We don't have a full-service VA system, so a lot of troops that have been injured are having to travel elsewhere, and that's something that we have to address. There are important efficiencies that we can obtain by having a VA hospital system; for example, prescription drugs. But we have to have a VA that serves everybody. In some rural communities that the veterans don't have access to the services needed, we've got to make sure that they do have the option for a private hospital that is close by.
Source: 2007 Dem. debate at Saint Anselm College Date: 06/03/2007 |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Theft of Military Identity Data from VA |
Obama: No Response |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Veterans' Recognition |
Obama: No Response |
Nader: No Response |
Baldwin: No Response |
| Veterans Issues |
Bob Barr - L
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John Mccain - R
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| Veterans, a General Statement |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: America owes its liberty, its prosperity, and its future to our veterans who have dedicated their lives to protecting our great country. John McCain has fought to honor our national commitment to our veterans who have given their careers and livelihoods to ensuring our freedom. He believes we must provide for service members and their families while they serve, we must help those who return from combat to adjust to civilian life, and we must honor and never forget the service of those who do not return. John McCain has been a leader in Congress, fighting for all those who serve and their families, improving veterans' health care, providing veterans with the benefits they have earned, easing their transition to civilian life, and honoring the fallen.
Source: www.johnmccain.com Date: 12/05/2007 |
| Veterans' Health and Medical Care |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: John McCain believes that America's veterans who dedicated themselves to protecting our country deserve the highest quality health care. He is committed to ensuring that veterans' health care programs receive the funding necessary to provide the quality health care our veterans need and deserve. He has worked to ensure that the Veteran's Administration provides care for all eligible veterans, no matter where they live or what they need. In addition, John McCain has fought to ensure that retired servicemen and women have meaningful access to affordable health care.
Source: www.johnmccain.com Date: 12/05/2007 |
| GI Bill & Veterans' Benefits |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: John McCain strongly believes that it is our duty as a nation to provide our veterans, who dedicated their careers, risked their personal safety, and sometimes sacrificed their lives in order to protect us, with the benefits that we have promised them and that they have earned. John McCain has voted consistently to increase funding for veterans' benefits, recognizing that the people who serve our country should get priority over the disgraceful amounts of spending on corporate subsidies and wasteful pork barrel spending. He also pushed for various initiatives to ensure that veterans who are eligible for benefits know what they are entitled to and have the resources to obtain their benefits.
Source: www.johnmccain.com Date: 12/05/2007 |
| Retired Veterans Benefits and Health Care |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: John McCain believes that all military retirees, even if they are not eligible for VA health care, should be provided with meaningful access to health care. The federal government should ease the burden of health care costs on those people who have dedicated their careers to protecting our freedom. He has supported allowing military retirees to remain eligible for CHAMPUS or TRICARE military health care programs even when they reach the age of 65 and are eligible for Medicare. He has also consistently supported efforts to give military retirees tax breaks to help pay health insurance premiums, and he has opposed placing user fees on military retirees for using military medical facilities.
Source: www.johnmccain.com Date: 12/05/2007 |
| Survivor Benefits |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Disabled Veterans Health Care |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: John McCain has been a leading advocate in the Senate for disabled veterans throughout his entire career. He fought for nearly fifteen years, introducing numerous bills, to ensure that veterans with service-connected disabilities can receive the retirement benefits that they have earned, as well as the disability compensation benefits that they are entitled to. He has also worked to ensure that veterans can have their disability claims processed in a timely manner, working with the VA to rectify its huge backlog of claims and providing additional resources for that purpose. John McCain believes very strongly that service members who suffered permanent injuries in service to our nation should not be forced to give up their disability compensation in order to collect their retirement pay. For this reason, John McCain has been a staunch supporter of repealing the historic ban on receiving both disability and retirement pay at the same time. Over the past few years, John McCain has successfully pushed for provisions to compensate disabled retired veterans for this disparity. Now, because of his efforts, veterans with severe combat-related disabilities are able to collect their retirement and disability compensation at the same time. John McCain will continue to fight for equal treatment of disabled veterans under the retirement system. In an effort to help disabled veterans with their health care, he cosponsored a measure to allow disabled veterans to be enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the same health insurance offered to Senators and Congressmen. He has also supported higher payments to disabled veterans and survivors of veterans who died because of service connected injuries.
Source: www.johnmccain.com Date: 12/05/2007 |
| Homeless Veterans |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Vetreran Job Retraining |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Veterans Funding |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: John McCain has voted repeatedly, throughout his career, to ensure that the Veteran's Administration health care programs receive the funding necessary to serve our veterans. He has supported numerous funding increases, initiatives to make the VA more efficient, and proposals to give higher pay to VA doctors in order to recruit and retain high quality physicians and dentists.
Source: www.johnmccain.com Date: 12/05/2007 |
| Disability Claims |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Brain Injuries (TBI) |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Persian Gulf War Illnesses |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Agent Orange Related Illness |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Walter Reed Army Medical Center Scandal |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| POWs and MIAs |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Veterans Administration (VA) |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Theft of Military Identity Data from VA |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: No Response |
| Veterans' Recognition |
Barr: No Response |
Mccain: John McCain has worked throughout his time in Congress to fulfill our nation's solemn duty to honor those veterans who sacrificed their lives to protect our liberty. In 2006, he sponsored legislation to immortalize the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial as a symbol honoring veterans of the Korean War. He also advocated for the creation of a number of other veterans' memorials, including a memorial to honor disabled veterans and the National Native American Veterans' Memorial. He sponsored legislation to create National Medal of Honor Sites to honor recipients of the Medal of Honor. He worked to create Arizona's only National Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix, and he authored legislation to ensure that veterans have honor guards at their funerals.
Source: www.johnmccain.com Date: 12/05/2007 |