A Veterans' Security Plan

Throughout my 34 years on active duty, I always considered the welfare of those who served beside me as my highest priority. In the military, I fought hard for better housing, better health care, and better schools for our troops and their families. My dedication will be no less as Commander-in-Chief.

When you fight a war, there is one lesson you don't forget: never, ever leave a soldier behind. For three years now, President Bush has been leaving our soldiers and veterans behind. The ingratitude he has shown our veterans is appalling. His misguided policies will lead to the closure of schools on military bases, and the loss of 6,000 beds in VA hospitals--just as 235,000 veterans sit on waiting lists for VA care. And 20 percent of America's National Guard and Reserve members have no health insurance at all when not on active duty; those who have insurance struggle with rising costs.

Health care isn't the only basic need that President Bush has left unmet. 250,000 veterans sleep on the street each night in America. America's homeless veterans not only deserve support from the country they have served--they deserve dignity.

We bear the responsibility to care for all those who served and fought for this country, and that is exactly what I will do as President. With my plan for Veterans' Security, I pledge to:

• Pass the 'Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act.'
  House Resolution 3474 will guarantee retired veterans of the World War II and Korean War eras the fully paid, lifetime health insurance they were promised decades ago. I am devoted to fulfilling this long overdue commitment to America's Greatest Generation.

• Provide adequate funding for veterans' health care.
  I will fully fund veterans' health care, requesting $2 billion more than President Bush has proposed.

• Expand access to health coverage.
  I pledge to expand health options for reservists and their families. National Guard and Reserve members who have no health insurance while they are not on active duty will have access to coverage through the same system that insures members of Congress.

• Protect our veterans from future cuts to Medicare.
  Cuts to Medicare increase all Americans' uncertainty and adversely affect veterans nationwide. I pledge to protect the Tricare system by protecting Medicare.

• Protect schools on military bases.
  I will provide the funding to educate the children of our military communities.

• Care for homeless veterans.
  I will ensure that homeless veterans are given the resources necessary to improve their lives.

• Eliminate the "Disabled Veterans Tax."
  A century-old law bars "concurrent receipt" of both military retirement benefits and disability benefits. I support a full, fair, and immediate end to the Disabled Veterans Tax.

• Create a National Soldiers Memorial.
  We must recognize and honor those who served in "other wars," for which there is no designated memorial--such as the conflicts in Panama, Somalia, Iraq, and so many other zones of conflict around the globe.