Biden & Boehner Promise Support for Vets
AFP reports:
US Vice President Joe Biden marked Veterans Day Thursday with a tribute those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a pledge of enduring support for those returning home with life-altering wounds.
At a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, the country's premier burial ground for its war dead, Biden noted that more than 5,700 Americans have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 40,000 wounded.
"Long after these wars are over and the welcome home parades are finished and the memorials are built and the streets are renamed, our obligation will endure," he said.
"There are over 16,000 young men and women who will require extensive medical care for the rest of their lives, and their life expectancy is over 35 years," he said.
Noting the presence in the audience of Republican leader John Boehner, Biden assured there was bipartisan support for providing for veterans' needs even in a time of mounting budgetary pressures.
The Department of Veterans Affairs was given a 114 billion dollar budget for 2011, the latest in a series of annual increases as war casualties have mounted.
Click here to read more.
