Tester: You live up to promises you make to veterans

Looking ahead to this session of Congress, Sen. Jon Tester had strong words regarding cutting the federal budget when it comes to caring for the nation’s veterans.

Addressing The American Legion during the organization’s Washington Conference on Feb. 28. the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs said the U.S. government cannot renege on a pact it made with those who’ve worn the nation’s uniform.

“Some folks who serve in Congress … want to roll back the budget. But they roll back the budget, they roll back funding for our veterans,” he said. “Don’t let them tell you anything different. That’s a bad idea. I know about fiscal discipline. But when you make promises to people who served this country, you live up to those promises. We will get that done.”

Tester also spoke about a piece of pending legislation fully supported by The American Legion: the Major Richard Star Act. The legislation would allow veterans who are medically retired due to injuries sustained in combat to receive their retirement pay without forfeiting their disability compensation.

“We’re going to be working on that, and with your support … we’ll see that baby across the finish line, too,” Tester said. “Democracy works when people speak up and make sure their opinions are heard, and The American Legion is right there when making sure that democracy works.”

Ensuring the Department of Veterans Affairs has the capacity to treat all veterans also is a priority for Tester. “The VA needs to step up and make sure they have the doctors and the nurses and the facilities, but we need to give them the ability to make sure that happens, and that old facilities go away. We’ve got a number of bills to do that that I’m pushing on, bipartisan in nature in the United States Senate that we’re going to be working on to get done.”

Tester said those inside the Beltway, and many others, don’t understand the challenges faced by rural veterans. That is why American Legion support was so critical for one specific piece of legislation.

“That’s why I am particularly proud that last year we had the largest expansion of VA healthcare ever in this country in a bill known as the PACT Act,” he said. “It is a bill that every veteran service organization in this country was their No. 1 priority. Yet it is a bill that never would have passed if not for you. I am here to say to you, thank you. Your voice was heard, and we ended up passing a very important piece of legislation that impacts probably the majority of your members.”