|
 Obama
hears concerns
of veterans during town hall meeting
SPRINGFIELD -
Veterans raised several concerns about their treatment by the
federal government Saturday during a town hall meeting with U.S.
Sen. Barack Obama.
Obama, the freshman Illinois Democrat,
held the meeting at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 755 in
Springfield as preparation for Monday's confirmation hearing for
secretary of Veterans Affairs nominee Jim Nicholson.
"When we send our troops to war, it is
our solemn obligation to care for them upon their return and to do
so in a timely manner," said Obama, who sits on the Senate Committee
for Veterans' Affairs.
Recent media reports suggest the average
disability pay received by Illinois veterans is among the lowest in
the nation. Obama said the average annual disability payout for an
Illinoisan is $6,802, while a veteran from Puerto Rico receives
$11,607.
"The sacrifice of people in Illinois is
no less than someone in Puerto Rico," Obama said. "It's the same
sacrifice."
For more than an hour, Obama listened to
concerns from many of the nearly 100 people who came to Saturday's
event.
Gordon Brenner,
chairman of the Macon County Veterans Commission, said Illinois
veterans seeking compensation get the sense the federal government
is trying to find the cheapest solution.
"I'm sure they're sitting in their
offices saying 'Let them fight for it, let them go back two or three
times to get compensation,' " Brenner said. "When you go six months
fighting a case or a year, and they award you 10 or 20 percent, you
think, 'Man I finally got something.' "
John Farrow, a superintendent with the
Veterans Assistance Commission of Sangamon County, said the federal
government needs to consider increasing compensation for lost limbs
from the current level of $84.
Obama said the nation must take care of
its veterans if it wants people to continue enlisting.
"It's frustrating to me when I hear a
lot of talk of helping our troops in the abstract and not doing well
by them in the abstract," he said.
Obama, who remains opposed to war in
Iraq, said he is concerned training of an Iraqi defense force is not
being done quickly enough, so American forces can begin coming home.
"It's critical that we don't extend this
into a protracted occupation that further the flames of resentment
in the Middle East," Obama said. |