Veterans & Military Retirees
Our veterans, who have served during war and peace, have made tremendous sacrifices to protect our freedoms. They are defenders of democracy and have ensured all Americans can continue to enjoy freedom and peace.
I remain committed to holding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) accountable and ensuring promises made to our veterans are kept. Our service members must have access to safe housing, good jobs and the healthcare they need when they come home.
There are still too many instances of our veterans not receiving the care and service they have earned and the VA system not meeting their needs. Veterans deserve to receive their benefits in a timely and consistent manner; clearing the current backlog will help us reach this goal.
I remain concerned as to how the VA healthcare system will reform the delivery of healthcare and do so with the deep fiscal obligations associated with the new healthcare reform. For this reason, I have supported reforms through Congress that will modernize the appeals process, bring accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs and give student veterans the largest expansion of GI Bill benefits since the GI Bill was created.
Ongoing proposals to raise TRICARE deductibles, premiums and co-pays for beneficiaries remain a principle concern for military service members, retirees and their families. I fully understand that TRICARE is an earned benefit, and I am opposed to a “tiered” enrollment fee structure or “means-testing” for service members, retirees and their families. I understand that the unique military retirement and healthcare package is the primary incentive for top-quality people to endure the extraordinary demands and sacrifices inherent in a military career spanning 20 or 30 years.
As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, I will continue to work with my colleagues to preserve pay, benefits and incentives for the military, retirees and veterans and at the same time address unsustainable government spending.
More on Veterans & Military Retirees
NewsOK - Chris Casteel
President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that the United States would keep nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan through 2016.
We are a blessed nation indeed. Throughout our more than 237-year history, countless men and women have selflessly answered the call to protect our freedom and preserve liberty by serving in the military. On Veterans Day, we remember these individuals, their bravery and sacrifice. As we commemorate those who have come before to secure and preserve independence, honor those currently serving to keep us safe and as we support military families in our neighborhoods, join me in showing your appreciation.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Congressmen Frank Lucas (R-Okla.-3), Tom Cole (R-Okla.-4), James Lankford (R-Okla.-5), Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.-1) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.-2) today praised the decision from the Air Force to invoke Alternate Safe Haven Authorities which would except Tinker Air Force Base civilian personnel from furloughs whose homes were destroyed or declared uninhabitable as a result of the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma.
McAlester News-Capital - James Beaty
Members of the McAlester Defense Support Association, along with other community representatives, are back in the McAlester following their trip to the nation’s Capitol last week.
MDSA members who helped organize the trip said their purpose is to show community support for the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant and the rest of the defense industry in the McAlester area,
The Oklahoman - Chris Casteel
Expressing dismay with a growing problem of sexual assault in the military, Rep. Tom Cole told the top two officials in the U.S. Air Force on Thursday that somebody might have to get “kicked out.”
“If there have to be some examples made, they just need to get made because it's just not tolerable to be in this situation,” Cole, R-Moore, said at a House subcommittee hearing on the Air Force budget.
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) mourned the loss of Lawton-native First Lieutenant Brandon J. Landrum who died last Saturday while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Landrum was one of five soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas. Landrum is survived by his parents, wife and children.