Honoring Our Commitment to Our Servicemembers
I can’t stand the idea of a veteran risking her or his life for this country, suffering the wounds of battle, and then being kicked to the curb as a result of those wounds. But that is exactly what has happened to tens of thousands of men & women who have fought and bled for our country.
Many of these veterans return home from combat with mental health and behavioral health issues like PTSD or TBI. But instead of being directed to the care and treatment they need, they’re being given other-than-honorable (OTH) discharges or so-called “bad paper discharges,” disqualifying them from VA care, especially the mental and behavioral health services many of them desperately need.
Recent investigations showed that the Department of Defense has issued tens of thousands of OTH discharges to veterans with mental health and behavioral health diagnoses. Since January 2009, the Army has “separated” at least 22,000 soldiers for misconduct after they came back from Iraq and Afghanistan. These soldiers who fought for our country suffered serious mental health problems or traumatic brain injury as a cost of their service. And we turned our back on them.
This isn’t how we should be treating veterans who risked their lives for our country. That’s why this week I introduced the Honor Our Commitment Act of 2017 with fellow Senators Jon Tester and Michael Bennet and Representative Beto O’Rourke. Our bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide mental health and behavioral health services to diagnosed former combat veterans who have been other-than-honorably discharged. The bill also ensures that veterans receive a decision in a timely manner and requires the VA to justify to Congress any denial of benefits that they issue to a veteran.
Our veterans made a commitment to our country when they signed-up. I introduced this legislation to make sure that the VA keeps its commitment to help veterans with mental and behavioral health issues. I won’t stop fighting until they get the care and benefits they deserve.
