Keeping Our Promise to Missouri’s Veterans and Military Families
Missouri’s 4th District is home to a proud military community, including the brave personnel at Whiteman Air Force Base and thousands of veterans who have worn our nation’s uniform. When our service members swear an oath to protect our country, they are promised that our government will take care of them and their families when they return home.
Right now, that promise is being broken by an underfunded Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and massive bureaucratic red tape. Honoring our veterans means providing them with world-class healthcare, robust mental health support, and localized economic opportunities without making them fight another war just to get their earned benefits.
Our Priorities for Supporting Veterans and Service Members
1. Combating the Veteran Mental Health Crisis and Preventing Suicide
We lose far too many veterans to a silent battle with PTSD, depression, and military sexual trauma. Mental health care must be treated with the exact same urgency as physical injuries. We will fight for permanent federal funding to expand localized, 24/7 mental health crisis networks and integrate specialized trauma counselors directly into our rural VA community clinics. No veteran in our district should be forced to wait weeks or drive hours to Kansas City or Columbia just to speak with someone in their time of need.
2. Cutting VA Bureaucracy and Reducing Backlogs
The current backlogs in the VA system are completely unacceptable. Veterans and their families frequently face months of grueling administrative delays just to get a disability rating or claim approval. We must modernize the VA’s processing infrastructure, hire more dedicated claims processors, and fiercely protect the historic expansions of the PACT Act. It is our job to ensure that veterans suffering from toxic exposures—whether from burn pits or hazardous military sites—receive their automatic healthcare benefits without bureaucratic pushback or technical roadblocks.
3. Expanding Rural Veteran Care and Telehealth Access
Living in a rural community should never mean getting second-rate medical care. Many veterans in our district face severe mobility issues or live in areas with limited transit options. We will invest heavily in expanding specialized rural VA clinics and strengthening secure, reliable telehealth networks. By ensuring local clinics are fully staffed with specialists—including audiologists, physical therapists, and geriatric care physicians—we can bring the care directly to the heroes who earned it.
4. Supporting Military Families and Easing the Civilian Transition
A service member’s sacrifice is shared by their entire household. We need to expand federal support for military spouses, including child care subsidies, mental health resources during deployments, and streamlined professional licensing so they can maintain careers when moving to installations like Whiteman AFB. Furthermore, we must invest in comprehensive vocational training, trade union partnerships, and entrepreneurship grants to ensure that when our veterans transition to civilian life, they have immediate pathways to high-paying local jobs.
The Bottom Line
Taking care of our veterans is not a political football—it is a sacred national obligation. By expanding mental health resources, cutting through broken VA bureaucracy, and supporting military families, we can truly honor the service of Missouri’s heroes and ensure they return home to a community that has their back.