Bernie Sanders unveils $62bn VA plan as other 2020 Democrats propose robust plans to help veterans

Democrats hoping to compete against Donald Trump in the 2020 elections spent Veteran’s Day on the campaign trail releasing their plans for members of the nation’s military — and hitting out at the president.

Bernie Sanders offered a plan to add $62bn (£48.2bn) in funding to repair and modernise the Veteran’s Administration, writing in a tweet: “If a country is worth anything, it is how we treat the people who put their lives on the line to defend it.”

He added: “When I am president, we will keep our promise to our veterans.”

The Vermont senator also reminded voters in a video shared to his Twitter page that he and John McCain were the first to introduce bipartisan legislation expanding the VA’s health care through its Choice programme under former President Barack Obama, despite Mr Trump repeatedly suggesting he was actually the first politician to do so.

Mr Trump’s plan — which Mr Sanders opposed and voted against — rather intends to move veterans into private care over the course of the next decade.

“We will not dismantle or privatise the VA”, Mr Sanders said on Monday. “We will expand and improve the VA.”

Pete Buttigieg also released a 21-page plan to deal with various issues impacting the nation’s 20 million veterans, from high suicide rates to sexual harassment and women’s health concerns within the US military.

“The president has let veterans down,” Mr Buttigieg told the Associated Press in an interview.

The South Bend, Indiana mayor also said he would strongly consider nominating a female defence secretary while focusing on eliminating “barriers to women’s retention and promotion” within the military.

Joe Biden’s campaign said the former vice president would continue building off the successes from the previous administration.

Mr Biden would seek to create “meaningful employment and educational opportunities” for veterans, the campaign said on Monday, as well as improving management and “providing world class health care” through the VA.

“Joe has a long record of support for veterans and our military families,“ Jamal Brown, a campaign press secretary for Mr Biden, told the AP. ”Bringing down the high rate of suicide among our military and veterans will be a top priority for a Biden administration.“

Elizabeth Warren also released a lengthy plan on her campaign website for addressing systemic issues at the VA, noting that she was raised in a military family and that Veteran’s Day is “especially meaningful” to the Massachusetts Democrat.

Ms Warren vowed to implement pay raises and fill the VA’s 49,000 current vacancies.

She also addressed the issue of immigrant members of the military who had been deported under Mr Trump, writing: “A Warren Administration will make it clear that we will protect veterans and family members of serving military personnel from deportation, and we will review the cases of those who have been deported for possible return to the United States.”

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