As a military mom, I understand the needs of our veterans and military families. And I remain committed to honoring and caring for all those who serve. In the 1st Congressional District of Georgia, we have four military bases and over 76,000 veterans. We must meet the needs of our service members, and we must provide support for their families. They have sacrificed so much for our country; we owe it to them to make sure they receive the benefits and support they deserve.

• I will work avoid sending our service members into unnecessary conflicts that have no clear objectives and no end. I will support peaceful solutions over unnecessary conflicts that have no clear objectives and no end.

• Congress must allocate adequate funds to our VHA, instead of cutting funding to push privatization. The more funds our Veterans Administration receives, the more comprehensive services they can provide to all veterans, regardless of location.

• I support tax free bonuses for our soldiers.

It is unacceptable that approximately 18% of our military families are receiving food benefits. With the largest defense budget in the world, our service members should be paid a decent salary, and they should receive all the benefits promised to them when they enlisted.

We must do more to care for our veterans:

• We must invest at least as much in our service members returning from deployment as we do to send them into combat.

• We must provide more support for the transition to civilian life.

  • Help veterans find decent-paying, skilled jobs, full educational benefits (as promised), and transitional services.

  • Provide support for the military families who have sacrificed so much.

• We must provide comprehensive medical care and mental health care to address combat-related issues like PTSD and TBI. A July 2016 study showed that 20 veterans die by suicide daily. We can no longer talk about what needs to be done; we must act.

Veterans Crisis Line - 1-800-273-8255 or Text 838255