Issue Position: Honoring Our Nation's Heroes

Issue Position

As Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Gus is committed to working on behalf of the brave men and women who have worn our nation's uniform. When elected to Congress, he fought for a seat on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs so he could be an advocate for veterans and their families and ensure they receive the benefits they have earned. He also chairs the Republican Policy Committee's Task Force on Veterans' Affairs.

Since arriving in Washington, Gus has fought to expand the Pasco County VA Outpatient Clinic and establish an outpatient clinic in Brandon to bring additional health care services, such as dental care, to area veterans. Gus introduced legislation to create a test mail-order pharmacy program with no co-payments for prescriptions to save military retirees both time and money.

Aside from protecting and improving their benefits, one of the best ways to remember the sacrifices of past service members is to make certain that we support our current warriors. To that end, Gus has sponsored various bills that would help military families during these tough economic times and help boost morale for those service members stationed abroad.

The Home Front to Heroes Postal Benefits Act would provide free monthly vouchers for charities and military families to ship care packages to our troops stationed abroad. Having traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan in august 2009, Gus knows the positive impact these pieces of home have on our troops engaged in battle.

He has also introduced several pieces of legislation to increase military pay for members of the armed services, further narrowing the "pay gap" that exists between the military and private sector pay.

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