As the son of a U.S. Army Veteran, I am proud that Georgia is home to hundreds of thousands of our nation’s Veterans. As your U.S. Senator, I am committed to ensuring that every Veteran has access to the care and benefits they have earned. As you may know, many Veterans wounded in the line of duty have combat-related disabilities that make achieving economic success difficult and increase their likelihood to experience homelessness. I believe we must support our Veterans, especially Veterans with disabilities related to their service to our country.

During the 117th Congress, I successfully passed legislation requiring a study on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits disparities and to hold the VA accountable for providing equitable health care benefits and services to all of our Veterans. Additionally, I led a bicameral letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough to address reports of VA delays in providing community care, problems with the agency’s phone system, issues identified in Inspector General reports, and the need for greater protection of whistleblowers. I was also proud to vote in favor of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (Honoring Our PACT Act), which President Biden signed into law on August 10, 2022. This law provides additional services and VA health care for Veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service. This legislation also included the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, bipartisan legislation that allows Veterans exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune to seek damages in federal court.

Last Congress, on December 12, 2024, I joined my Senate colleagues in unanimously passing the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, which is a package of bills that reforms the delivery of VA programs, services, and benefits. Specifically, this package includes provisions from my bill, the Love Lives On Act, including restoring surviving spouses’ access to the Fry scholarship should they remarry and ending discrimination against same-sex surviving spouses. The package also includes the text of multiple bills that I proudly cosponsored to reduce Veteran suicide and improve VA support for the caregivers of Veterans. I was proud to support this legislation, and I was glad to see President Biden sign this bill into law on January 2, 2025.

You may be glad to hear that I cosponsored S. 1032, the Major Richard Star Act, which Senator Blumenthal introduced on March 13, 2025. This bill would provide retirement benefits to Veterans who were unable to serve a 20-year term because of disabilities related to combat. This bill has been referred to the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, of which I am not a member. Please know that I look forward to supporting this bill should it come before the full Senate for a vote. I also support the inclusion of the Major Richard Star Act in the National Defense Authorization Act. I remain committed to ensuring that Georgia’s Veterans have access to the benefits and care that they need and have earned for their service.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I may be of assistance to you or your family.

Sincerely,
Reverend Raphael Warnock
United States Senator