Senator Talent sponsored military health care legislation, now law, with Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to address a major issue that arose after the first Gulf War in which some troops returned home with symptoms of an illness commonly referred to as Gulf War illness.
The Talent-Clinton Military Health Fairness Act will provide a before and after snapshot of the medical fitness of every troop deployed to a theater of war so the results can be compared to determine whether or not an individual, or their unit, was exposed to a dangerous substance.
Sen. Talent also passed legislation, now law, to develop and implement a program to provide chiropractic health care benefits for active duty military personnel.
Protecting Our Servicemen and Women From Predatory Lenders
Senator Talent sponsored bipartisan legislation, which passed the Senate, to protect our service members from predatory lenders who charge outrageous interest rates, sometimes as high as 800 percent, for short-term loans. His bill would limit the amount that payday lenders can charge soldiers and their families for a loan.
Increasing Funding For Our Military
Senator Talent has fought for years for bigger defense budgets so we can adequately modernize our forces, train our troops and provide them and our military retirees with the benefits they have earned. Most recently, Senator Talent this spring led the fight to increase military spending, adding $6.7 billion to the Senate Budget Resolution for defense.
Senator Talent has worked hard on the Senate Armed Services Committee to provide our troops with the tools they need to win the War on Terror.
Protecting the Flag
Senator Talent is an original cosponsor of the Flag Desecration Resolution, which would amend the U.S. Constitution to allow Congress the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. Flag. The Senate voted in July on the amendment and it came one vote short of the 67 needed to pass.
Keeping America’s Commitments to Our Veterans
Senator Talent has supported billions of dollars in funding increases for veterans health care to help make certain that those who served our country and put their lives at risk to keep us safe have the benefits they deserve when they return. In the House, he passed legislation, now law, to help veterans who are small business entrepreneurs or want to start their own small business.