It’s the Duty of Elected Officials to Support Veterans’ Issues

Super Tuesday is now behind us. As a Virginia resident, I had the privilege of voting in the primary for my presidential candidate of choice. As such, I began my day on a partisan note. However, although that is the way the day commenced, it was not characteristic of the remainder of my time on March 1st.

What I love about working at VetsFirst is that I get to advocate for veterans. Veterans are one of the few groups that nearly every constituency can agree to support. Whether you believe in limited or large government, our system makes it clear that our military, and by default our veterans, are the collective responsibility of the Federal government. So that means that it is the responsibility of the representatives of all parties to advocate for the need to support our veterans.

While we see that the military budgets are shrinking and the Department of Veterans Affairs has been plagued by various scandals, regardless of our position on the political spectrum we must expect our elected Federal officials to uphold their duty to support all veterans’ issues. This means that they need to seek to hold those VA officials who have acted in bad faith accountable, help VA streamline its operations and to ensure that programs are fully funded and staffed.

As a Marine, and now as the director of VetsFirst, I know that the most effective way to accomplish the mission is through teamwork. We must be a united front that makes its collective voice heard by our elected officials at all levels. So, when you determine your candidates for elected office, please make sure that you let them know that veterans’ issues are just as important as your other priorities. Good luck and see you in November!

Ross Meglathery, MPA, Director
VetsFirst, a program of United Spinal Association