Issue Position: Giving Back to Our Veterans and Military Families

Issue Position

-Fully fund the Department of Veteran Affairs
-Invest in housing and caring for our veterans
-Reverse Trump's ban on transgender troops in the military

My father served in the Marine Corps Reserves and played an important role instilling a sense of service in me. Military families and veterans are an important part of our community, especially given Joint Base Lewis McChord is in the 10th Congressional District. But today, our veterans and military families are not receiving the federal support they need.

The Department of Veterans Affairs should be an important resource for providing veterans with support for housing, jobs, healthcare, and education. Currently, it is not receiving the attention or the funding necessary to provide those benefits to those who have served our country.

In Congress, I'll fight to fully fund the V.A. so that we are making investments that modernize existing infrastructure, significantly reduce the long processing time for benefits and backlog of claims, ensure adequate staffing levels across the agency, and improve job and housing programs that are essential as housing prices continue to rise and the economy changes. Veterans are at greater risk of homelessness, mental health issues, and suicide -- we must invest in treatment for those who are suffering and prevention efforts for those at risk.

Congress must also renew efforts to block the Trump Administration's ban on transgender troops -- we must show that discrimination is never acceptable, especially not in the ranks of America's military.

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