Q: Will you support and actively work to fully fund the U.S. contribution to UN Peace Operations in hot spots like Darfur?
A: Yes.
Q: Will you cosponsor a resolution in Congress supporting the establishment of a
UN Emergency Peace Service if one is introduced?
A: Yes. I would support anything that helps shorten the time it takes for peacekeepers to be deployed.
Source: Citizens for Global Solutions: 2008 Senate questionnaire
Sep 9, 2008
Reduce our arsenal & abandon plans for new nuclear weapons
Q: Do you oppose the development of new nuclear weapons by the US or any other nation?
A: Yes. The US has numbers of nuclear weapons way beyond what we might need as a deterrent. The most senior officials from earlier administrations are all stressing
the urgency of reducing our arsenal. As we work to stop nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, reductions on our part will help us regain the moral high ground. And, of course, a good first step is to abandon any plans to build new nuclear weapons.
Q: Do you support U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty?
A: Yes. Nuclear weapons tests are a key threshold for aspiring nuclear powers, as we saw recently in North Korea.
The CTBT is an important pillar of the nonproliferation effort, and I support it.
Reduce our arsenal & abandon plans for new nuclear weapons
Q: Do you support U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty?
A: Yes. Nuclear weapons tests are a key threshold for aspiring nuclear powers, as we saw recently in North Korea.
The CTBT is an important pillar of the nonproliferation effort, and I support it.
Source: Citizens for Global Solutions: 2008 Senate questionnaire
Sep 9, 2008
Renew our commitment to our men and women in uniform
Not only do we need to stop shortchanging our veterans, we need to revitalize and renew our commitment to our men and women in uniform. I want to start with these steps:
Fully funding the Veterans Administration budget--this year, next year, and
every year--so that every veteran can have quality mental, physical, and long-term health care for life.
Cutting red tape and doing for the VA bureaucracy what we did for VA hospitals--make it more streamlined, efficient, and effective.
Better screenings for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.
Doing a better job of helping veterans re-integrate into their communities.
Creating a new G.I. Bill. We should expand the current
G.I. Bill to cover 100% of a public college education--including tuition, fees, and expenses--as well as cap student loan rates for vets and make it easier for veterans who halt their education for service to pick up where they left off.
Source: Campaign website, www.alfranken.com
Aug 12, 2008
Investigate waste, fraud, & abuse in Iraq contracts
According to a new CBO report, one in every five dollars devoted to Iraq has gone to private contractors, who now have more people in Iraq than the US military. The Times describes this as “a second, private, army--one whose roles and missions and even
casualties among its work force have largely been hidden from public view.” As Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Norm Coleman failed to hold a single hearing on the waste, fraud, & abuse that sabotaged the reconstruction of Iraq.
Source: Press release, “Tales from the Oversight-Free Zone #5”
Aug 12, 2008
Better screenings for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Estimates suggest that a third of all troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from some form of Traumatic Brain Injury--and not all suffer from easily visible symptoms. And perhaps as many as one in five veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder. We are only beginning to understand how to prevent, diagnose, & treat these ailments, so we should continue to fund research into how to do that better. (One good way of preventing TBI would be to guarantee that when we send our men & women to
combat, they receive appropriate equipment--especially helmet liners.) But we also need to commit ourselves to screening more veterans as they return home and seeking out potential combat stress sufferers who otherwise might end up in prison or on the
streets. We have to do a better job of tracking at-risk vets to make sure problems don’t arise later without detection--and because these issues don’t come with statutes of limitations, we should retroactively expand coverage of these conditions.
Source: Campaign website, www.AlFranken.com, “Issues”
May 14, 2008
Respect the sacrifice made by military families
I’ll fight to raise military pay and benefits so that families who lend us their loved ones don’t forfeit their economic security. We should also allow families of mobilized Guards members and reservists access to military health care benefits so
that their spouses and children don’t lose coverage, and offer grants to community organizations that bring military families together to provide support and counseling during the difficult time when a loved one is away.
Source: Campaign website, www.AlFranken.com, “Issues”
May 14, 2008
Do for the VA bureaucracy what we did for VA hospitals
Make it more streamlined, efficient, and effective. In addition to fully funding the VA, we must make its benefits readily accessible for all veterans. In the Senate, I’ll work to cut red tape. The first step is to make the transition from Department of
Defense health care to VA health care easier by moving the military to electronic medical records, automatically transferring information between systems, and providing advocates, especially for combat-wounded vets, to help them make use of the VA.
Source: Campaign website, www.AlFranken.com, “Issues”
May 14, 2008
Help veterans re-integrate into their communities
Returning veterans should receive clear information regarding what benefits they’re entitled to, how they can access them, and where they can find resources to help them navigate the system. But that’s not enough.
To address the epidemics of homelessness and unemployment among veterans, we should create new housing vouchers and increase funding for programs (and incentives for employers) that assist veterans in transitioning to civilian employment.
Source: Campaign website, www.AlFranken.com, “Issues”
May 14, 2008
We must renew our commitment to our veterans
Even as our overseas commitments stretch our military to its limits, many who claim that Democrats don’t “support our troops” are consistently failing to support our veterans. Bush has sent budgets to Congress that actually contain cuts to veterans’
health care. Republicans in Congress tried last year to cut in half research into traumatic brain injury--the signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have to do better for the men and women who have worn the uniform of the US into battle.
Source: Campaign website, www.AlFranken.com, “Issues”
May 14, 2008
Create a new G.I. Bill to pay for 100% of college
Creating a new G.I. Bill. With the cost of college skyrocketing, the G.I. Bill now only pays for around 60% of a public college education. Even worse, service members must pay $1,200 or more out of their paychecks in their first year of service
in order to qualify. We should expand the current G.I. Bill to cover 100% of a public college education--including tuition, fees, and expenses--and eliminate the $1,200 pay reduction, as well as cap student loan rates for vets.
Source: Campaign website, www.alfranken.com, “Issues”
Mar 9, 2008
