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Platform 2012: Veterans and Military Families

All veterans from all components of military service should receive equal treatment, including those veterans of operations-other-than-war undertaken by the United States, and should be provided all the entitlements given to veterans of earlier service, including education and training benefits, health benefits, home loans and other financial assistance.  We support the G.I. Bill of Rights for the 21st Century and believe that earned benefits should be readily available to all service members, eligible veterans and their families on a timely basis within their own communities.

 

Through the shared sacrifice of all Californians to leave no veteran behind, Democrats will work to:

 

  • Demand truth in recruiting and open enlistment for all;
  • Provide support services for active duty military personnel and their families without cost to the service member;
  • Provide our troops with the latest in protective equipment and weaponry and provide total training prior to deployment;
  • Provide the same benefits as those given to the regular armed forces for all National Guard and Reserve members activated for federal service;
  • Support enforcement of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) ensuring that activated reservist and National Guard can resume their jobs upon return, without exception, with the state being the employer of last resort when necessary;
  • Insist that the federal Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) fulfill its legal obligation to veterans by reducing the backlog of claims both through accelerated claims processing and by assumption of service connection;
  • Provide payment from the state for veterans and military benefits earned if the federal government is unwilling to pay, and hold the veteran safe from recovery of such payments if the claim is later denied by the federal government, except in the case of fraud;
  • Provide monetary support and services to families who bear the burden as caregivers for disabled veterans;
  • Waive all tuition and fees in sate colleges and universities for all veterans of the Middle East wars (2 August 1990 - future date not determined); 
  • Grant citizenship for non-citizen veterans who have served honorably in the military of the United States;
  • Upgrade the less-than-honorable discharges of all veterans from all periods who were involuntarily discharged due solely to their sexual orientation;
  • Provide a secure system of electronic balloting via the internet for service members and their voting age dependents who are stationed outside the United States;
  • Establish formal Veterans' Courts within the California Superior Court system and encourage the establishment of Veterans' justice programs at the municipal level throughout California;
  • Support the establishment of a federal program of Counselors comparable to the military's Chaplain Corps for all service members who do not subscribe to a religious faith, and set the example by establishing such a program within the California National Guard;
  • Provide assistance for certain individuals affected by exposure to Agent Orange and other toxins in the course of their military service, or while dependents resident at a military installation, and advocate for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recognize the inheritability of many toxin-induced conditions and as a result enhance the availability of medical care for descendants of veterans of the Vietnam era, and for other conflicts;
  • Petition the federal Department of Veterans Affairs to establishment and fund community-based violence prevention programs, including counseling, peer counseling and non-violent conflict resolution training to support veterans and their families;
  • Insist that the federal Department of Veterans Affairs expand to provide comprehensive, wrap-around outreach health and mental health care to all veterans and their families to decrease incidents of domestic violence and/or suicide;
  • It has become increasingly clear that hazing and harassment must be addressed throughout our armed services as too many patriotic young Americans, who want only to serve our country, are being harmed. Support training/education programs and strict military policies that prohibit hazing and enhance long term military readiness by robust suicide prevention and a national service pilot program, and;
  • Insist that the military thoroughly investigate reports of rape and vigorously prosecute cases warranted by the evidence.