Issues

Veterans & Military Families

En Español

Serving Veterans & Military Families

Military service is one of the greatest honors a citizen can perform for their country. We owe it to our service men and women to treat them with the same dignity, respect, and sense of responsibility that they have shown to us, and our country. When our veterans return home, there must be a full range of support systems in place.

Supporting our veterans is a top priority for me.  I am proud to have hosted many veteran job fairs while in Congress, and worked closely with the Veterans Rapid Employment Initiative (VREI) to directly help veterans get their feet on solid ground after returning to civilian life.  And I was honored to help service organizations like the Veteran’s Closet in North Chicago and the Fuller Center’s Hero Project in Waukegan obtain the resources they needed to get up and running.

In Congress, I worked to make sure that our veterans and their families are cared for and honored for their service.  That’s why I supported the Veterans Entrepreneur Act, the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act, the 21st Century Health Care for Heroes Act, and many other programs to take care of our veterans and military families.

We need to maintain a 21st Century GI Bill to provide educational opportunities to a new generation of American heroes. There must be world-class health care for our wounded veterans, those injured both physically and mentally. We must empower the VA to continue to offer these quality services to the men and women of our military once they return from service. Their sacrifice has been too great for us to forget about them as soon as they put their uniform away.

We must also support our military families and sustain them while their loved ones are deployed on active duty. They bear a tremendous burden just like their husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and siblings in uniform do.