Veterans Affairs

Five major issues are effecting Veterans today:

Unemployment

As of Sept. 2020, the unemployment rate of Veterans was at 6.8%. While this is below the national average, it is still unacceptable. Veterans should be able to come home from serving our great country and have access to a job.

Homelessness

Homelessness reached a high point of 11% in 2018 but has since gone down to 9% in 2019. Most of those are predominately male, with 9% being women. These rates are way too high for any group in America, especially our veterans.

Mental Health

1 in 5 Veterans suffers from either PTSD or Depression. We need to focus on unemployment and homelessness; we also need major reform in veterans' mental health care. Seeing my own family suffer from PTSD and depression has opened my eyes to seeing that Vet’s don’t get the assistance they need.

GI Bill

The GI Bill is a great advantage to those who have served or are currently serving in the US Military. In 2011, 1 million people participated in the GI Bill program, a 15% increase over 2010. Since 2009, the program has been used successfully in over 773,000 people. This program should not only be offered to our Vets but for their families as well, to say thanks to everyone who has given up something to fight for our countries.

Vet’s Choice Medical Program

This program was started in response to Vets not getting the proper care from the VA. Lines were long to get in to see a doctor, or they couldn’t get in at all. Veterans now have the opportunity to get the healthcare that they need from the doctors that they choose.

To combat these issues, I will start with the most significant issue, mental health, which has led to unemployment and homelessness in Vets. I would introduce legislation that states mental health is a significant concern; therefore, we need to fund programs that will focus on the whole person and help them deal with their mental illnesses. Helping Vet’s get through PTSD and depression will improve their overall well being by showing them that there is a path to their own personal freedom. This needs to be apart of the Vet’s choice medical program and will be once I am elected.

Once mental health is attacked and gotten control of, then we must tackle homelessness and unemployment. Many of our Vet’s come back with real-world skills that translate into a job to provide for their families. I can take the example of a guy I work with; he is a Navy Vet with experience in many facets of maintenance (i.e., electrical, general maintenance); he is now a maintenance technician and puts his skills to good use.

If you or anyone you know need help or support from Ohio’s Veterans Affairs, please see the link below. They are full of information and can help get the services that you need.

Ohio Department of Veterans Affairs

Military Issues

Military Spending

On average, the US spends about 3.4% of GDP budget on the Military. This equates to $721.5 billion for FY2020. Many people have argued that this amount is too high, considering everything America is involved in. My goal would be to reduce our foreign influence and bring back troops to American soil. This would cut out part of the budget if we are not stretching ourselves thin in many parts of the world. I would then use the excess money and put it back in our military members' salaries and make sure they are taken care of. Without them fighting to keep us a free country, we would end up in chaos.

NATO and Global Outreach

Nato, which stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been around since 1945. America has been a leader in this group from the beginning, spending 3.42% of its GDP on defense. Spending this much has gotten us nowhere in the organization. America spends the most of any country in the organization, with approximately eight other countries hitting the 2.0% GDP target. We need to start scaling back our spending in NATO until the other countries come up. We protect most of the world and send the most to NATO; the least that the other countries can do is meet the GDP targets. I would introduce legislation to let other countries know we are scaling back our NATO spending until they step up.

We are also fighting too many wars at once, right now, in too many places. We are actively involved in 26 different world conflicts. Many of these conflicts don’t include matters pertaining to the US. We need to worry about America first and those conflicts that we can win and get our troops back home. The loss of just one US Military member's life in senseless wars and conflicts is too much. It’s time to end the nonsense and bring our family members home!