Ken Cuccinelli Discusses Plan for Veterans

By Jennifer van der Kleut

Virginia's attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli laid out his plans for Virginia's veterans in a Northern Virginia campaign appearance this weekend.

Cuccinelli arrived at the Hilton Washington-Dulles hotel early Saturday morning to attend the Veterans Policy Rollout and Coalition meeting, where he discussed his new Veterans Coalition, and its plan for ensuring long-term commitment and care for Virginia’s veterans.

Members of his Veterans Coalition attended the meeting with him, including Commander Paul Galanti, USN, (Ret.), who was a Navy pilot in Vietnam and spent nearly seven years in a POW camp with fellow Americans including Senator John McCain.

Later that morning, Cuccinelli also addressed the American Legion 2013 State Convention at the hotel, and discussed the details of his "Plan for Virginia's Veterans." 

Cuccinelli said, roughly 840,000 veterans live in Virginia. 

“In the course of American political history, every single candidate for statewide office talks about the importance of veterans and the critical role they play in our communities," he said, addressing the room. "Too often, of course, when it comes to veterans’ issues—candidates and elected officials say all the right things and check all of the right boxes, but rarely do they take aggressive action."

"Leaders at every level of government have a solemn responsibility to look after the men and women who have put their lives on the line for our country. No one disagrees with that," he continued. "But I think leaders in Richmond need to be committed to our veterans for another reason that applies to our entire Commonwealth - our economic future."

Cuccinelli discussed a seven-point plan he says he will implement if he is elected, to help care for veterans across Virginia. 

• Revising the structure of the Office of Veterans Affairs, making it report directly to the office of the governor, rather than Homeland Security.

• Support for veterans health care initiatives, including continuing funding of the Virginia Wounded Warriors program, and working toward the establishment of a veterans health care center in Virginia.

• Increasing Virginia veterans’ employment opportunities, including reforming their training and education and helping them find jobs.

• Improving veterans' claims processing.

• Providing more adequate funding for the Homeless Veteran Program, in order to help the program move forward.

• Improving veterans education, including working with Virginia colleges and universities to make them more attractive and accessible to veterans.

• Initiating a statewide campaign to inform veterans that they can use their G.I. Bill benefits for more than getting a degree, but also to gain specialized training and certificates for trades that are increasingly in demand.

• Supporting military spouses and dependents, including supporting a constitutional amendment to make real property tax exemptions for those with spouses killed in action, and reducing more barriers to employment.

What do you think of Cuccinelli's plan for veterans? Tell us in the comments below.

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