Honoring Our Heroes on Veterans Day

FROM THE DESK OF REP. CALVERT:

So far this year, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed 13 bills to provide better support America's veterans and ensure improved healthcare and programs through the Department of Veterans Affairs. I have voted YES on all these bills. I am dedicated:

To protecting veterans from budget cuts: 

• Funding for our military and veterans are among our highest priorities. That will remain the case in the tight budget years ahead.
• Mandatory spending for veterans' programs were protected from any cuts in the Budget Control Act passed earlier this year.

To getting our veterans out of unemployment lines and into the workforce:

• Currently, 1 million veterans are out of work. Sixty-six percent of those are over the age of 34 and are facing an increasingly competitive job market. 
• That is why I voted for the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act (the VOW Act, H.R. 2433) to provide our veterans with the skills and training needed to compete in the 21st Century and to ensure that our servicemembers have a job when they come home.
• Through the VOW Act, we will create the most qualified veteran workforce since World War II.
• In addition, we passed the VOW Act without increasing the federal deficit.

To standing with America's veterans to ensure they receive the benefits they have so rightly earned: 

• I voted to keep our student veterans in the college of their choice through the Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act, which was signed into law this summer. Without this change, student veterans across the country would have been subject to severe reductions in tuition payments. 
• I voted to start reforming the disability compensation claims process through the Veterans' Benefits Act. Our veterans face an average claims processing time of 230 days. This is unacceptable. We must turn the corner and ensure that claims are processed accurately the first time they are submitted and in a timely manner.
• I voted to protect veterans, their families, and VA employees from sexual assault in VA facilities through the Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention and Health Care Enhancement Act. When our veterans are at their most vulnerable, we must do everything possible to
• ensure their safety.
• And, I voted to improve the aging VA infrastructure around the country to provide better care for our veterans through the Veterans Health Care Facilities Capital Improvement Act of 2011.