I'm glad that we pushed through the new GI Bill and increased education funding for our veterans. I was on the campaign trail with Jeff Merkley a few weeks back and I met a woman named Ellie Reed from Boring Oregon. She was distraught because her son came home from Iraq and did not have enough education funding to put himself through firefighter school. With the passage of the new GI bill, veterans like Ellie's son will have a better chance at finishing college. This is a great thing. It's also great that the new GI Bill increased health care funding and expanded access to TRICARE. However, we still have a lot of work to do.

A few months ago I penned a diary about a recent RAND study titled, "Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery." The findings were astounding. 43% of veterans are not seeking treatment for their brain injuries and/or mental afflictions. Here's a snippet from Raw Story:

About 19 percent - or some 320,000 services members - reported that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury while deployed. In wars where blasts from roadside bombs are prevalent, the injuries can range from mild concussions to severe head wounds.

_About 7 percent reported both a probable brain injury and current PTSD or major depression.

_Only 43 percent reported ever being evaluated by a physician for their head injuries.

_Only 53 percent of service members with PTSD or depression sought help over the past year.

_They gave various reasons for not getting help, including that they worried about the side effects of medication; believe family and friends could help them with the problem, or that they feared seeking care might damage their careers.

_Rates of PTSD and major depression were highest among women and reservists.

Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley is very concerned about soldiers suffering from TBI, (traumatic brain injury) and PTSD. Merkley believes that we not only need to increase mental health care funding but we also need to provide mental health screenings in the months and years after a soldier serves. I was at a townhall meeting in Sandy Oregon a few weeks back where Jeff addressed a room full of veterans. He stressed that health care screenings are needed in the years following a soldier's service because sometimes PTSD doesn't rear its ugly head until years later. He spoke about the increased rates of suicide and how it will only get worse if we don't make sure that soldiers are getting the proper health care services.

Merkley is right. If we don't address the current crisis that is hundreds of thousands of veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI, we're going to be dealing with it for decades to come. Our veterans deserve all the resources in the world to deal with the injuries caused by their sacrifice for our country. If we can't give them what they deserve, who are we as a country?

There is no Greater Obligation

Jeff Merkley believes as I do, that we must do everything in our power to fully take care of our veterans when they return home from service. Merkley believes we need to fully fund the VA, extend full benefits that our soldiers receive to the National Guard and Reserve and enact concurrent receipt benefits which would allow disabled veterans to receive full retirement pay when they leave the service. Merkley is also advocating for revising deployment guidelines so servicemen and women can match the amount of time spent on tours of duty to the time spent at home with their families.

Merkley has been 100% dedicated to improving the quality of life for our veterans. In Oregon, Merkley championed a bill which provided college education to family members of the fallen which he has pledged to fight for at the federal level. He also pushed through a bill that provided additional financial aid to veterans and passed a personal tax exemption to more National Guards members. Merkley also passed a bill creating incentives for employers to hire veterans. Merkley also passed tax incentives for health care providers who participate in the TRICARE program. Merkley also passed House Joint Memorial 9 which was a resolution urging the President to end the war.

Merkley has a long history of working to better veterans' lives, but his work is not close to being done. That's why we need to work hard to elect candidates like Jeff Merkley who will do everything in their power to honor our soldiers and reservists the way they deserve.

If you'd like to read more about Jeff's stance on veterans issues, go here.

Check out this video with Jeff talking about taking care of our veterans when they return home.