November 26, 2007
On my most recent trip to Iowa, I was proud to participate in the "Nor Surrender Tour" with my good friend John McCain. During the tour John and I traveled with veterans whose service spanned six wars - from WWII to Operation Iraqi Freedom - and I spent a great deal of time reflecting on the distinguished history of military service by the men and women of Iowa.
While in Council Bluffs, I was happy to introduce John and honored to meet Iraq war veterans, U.S. Army Captain John Turner and Specialist Brandon Sheppard. The courage and dedication that our nation's young soldiers embody afford us near limitless freedoms and also bless our friends and allies around the globe with a sense of hope and liberty they may have never known.
Our nation will forever be indebted to them for their service. John appreciates this and often quotes another great leader in the history of our country, George Washington: "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation."
John, a decorated Navy Captain with a distinguished family history of service to our country, and two sons in the military - on a deployed Marine and the other at the Naval Academy - has honored his fellow veterans and has a record of fighting for the benefits they deserve.
His long and consistent voting record in support of our troops, veterans and their families matches the rhetoric all too many politicians assert when they come to campaign in our hometowns.
John has worked tirelessly to improve veterans' healthcare. He has introduced several major bills to ensure veterans have equal access to quality care regardless of where they live; he's co-sponsored a bill to restore coverage to retired service members; and has pushed to restore health care equity for Medicare-eligible retirees. In addition, he sponsored a bill requiring shelters that receive federal grants to identify and provide counseling to homeless veterans.
John has led the fight for full enactment of concurrent receipt to ensure military retirees who are receiving disability pay also receive the retirement pay they have earned.
Moreover, he's worked to increase funding for severely disabled uniformed services retirees.
1 comment:
Interesting about your take on Col. Day...
Just for laughs you might want to take a look at the following alledged Day comments regarding John McCain: Statement on John McCain regarding his time as a POW/MIA put out by someone named Devvy Kidd
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