Speaking to a group of veterans and other supporters Sestak stressed that legislators and other elected officials must be accountable to the public.
Taking aim specifically at the Department of Veterans Affairs he said,”Our VA needs to have more transparency and accountability, which includes the proper amount of funding.”
Sestak’s plan calls for increased inspections by the VA of private facilities and making those reports public, citing a problem at a private home for veterans in Philadelphia, where live maggots were found in the food and in a veteran’s wound, Sestak said.
The VA has been highly criticized in the recent past for mismanaging funds earmarked for veterans in rural areas, or those unable to make an appointment at a VA healthcare facility within a month of seeking treatment. In those cases, the eligible veteran is permitted to seek treatment from a private provider, with the VA picking up the tab.
Sestak said he plans to introduce measures that would build up the VA wireless infrastructure to increase care for veterans who live in rural areas.
“By utilizing technologies like telemedicine to bring treatments for conditions such as PTSD to veterans who frequently face the challenge of making long distance trips to busy cities that can unnecessarily exacerbate their illness,” Sestak says on his website.
Women vets are struggling more than their male counterparts, he announced. “The unemployment rate for female veterans is nine percent, and the suicide rate is nine percent higher than civilians,” he added.
Despite President Obama’s goal to completely end veteran homelessness, Sestsk said Wednesday and on his website that “there are nearly 50,000 homeless veterans on any given night.”
He is calling for the expansion of a program started in Phoeniz, Az., called “Housing First,” which focuses on finding immediate housing for veterans, and then addresses their issues that led to the veteran becoming homeless in the first place.
In an effort to address veteran unemployment, Sestak proposed increasing the current tax credit for hiring a veteran from $9,600 to $15,000,
Sestak said in a response to a question concerning his position on gun control, ” I’m a very strong supporter of the Second Amendment.” However, he added, he supports “Common sense measures” to control the sale of guns, such as increased background checks on those wanting to purchase assault weapons.
“Why are police going up against assault weapons?” he said. “I so believe in the Second Amendment that I allowed sailors to bring their own guns aboard ship on deployments lasting six month,” he added as an example of his position on the private ownership of guns.
Sestak served in the U.S. Navy for 31 years, and as a three-star Admiral. he was the highest-ranking military veteran ever elected to Congress.
