American Legion National Commander Jimmie L. Foster greets President Obama during the 2011 Legion National Convention. Photo by Tom Strattman.
While the United States is in a time of fiscal restraint, President Barack Obama pledged on Tuesday that the restraint won’t include cutting benefits of America’s veterans.
Addressing The American Legion’s 93rd Annual National Convention in Minneapolis, Obama said veterans wouldn’t bear the brunt of federal cutbacks.
“As a nation, we’re facing tough choices as we put our fiscal house in order,” the president said, getting a standing ovation from the crowd of thousands in the process. “But I want to be absolutely clear: We cannot, we must not, and we will not balance the budget on the backs of our veterans. And as commander-in-chief, I won’t allow it.
While pledging to protect veterans benefits, the president also offered a plan to help revive the economy: the hiring of veterans.
“We’re going to offer more help with career development and job searches,” he said. “I’ve directed DoD and the VA to create a reverse boot camp to help our newest veterans prepare for civilian jobs and translate their exceptional military skills into industry-accepted licenses and credentials. And today I’m calling on every state to pass legislation that makes it easier for our veterans to get the credentials and the jobs for which they are so clearly qualified. This needs to happen, and it needs to happen now.
During his 30-minute address, Obama touched on the economy, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the needed care of U.S. servicemembers when they return home – specifically those dealing with hidden wounds such as post-traumatic stress and mental illness.
“We’re working aggressively to address another signature wound of this war, which has led too many fine troops and veterans to take their own lives – post-traumatic stress disorder,” he said. “We’re continuing to make major investments: improving outreach and suicide prevention, hiring and training more mental health counselors and treating more veterans than ever before.
Obama told Legionnaires that U.S. servicemembers serving in Iraq will be home by the start of 2012, while the drawdown in Afghanistan will continue.
Those men and women who have served in both campaigns are deserving of a grateful nation’s praise, the president said.
“Young captains, sergeants and lieutenants have assumed responsibilities once reserved for more senior commanders, reminding us that in an era when so many other institutions have shirked their obligations, the men and women of the United States military welcome responsibility,” Obama said. “In a decade of war, they have borne an extraordinary burden, with more than two million of our servicemembers deploying to the warzones. Hundreds of thousands have deployed again and again, year after year. Never before has our nation asked so much of our all-volunteer force – that 1 percent of Americans who wears the uniform.
Obama said that those men and women who come home injured and file a claim with VA shouldn’t have to wait for that claim to be adjudicated, and that the current backlog of VA claims remains a priority for his administration.