Franken supports additional veterans’ benefits
Senate hopeful says soldiers’ mortgages should be paid
Published Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Pleased to hear that troops are returning home to Fergus Falls from Iraq, the government nevertheless needs to step up to the plate and show their appreciation, Senate hopeful Al Franken said.
On the way to a Franken for Senate rally in Moorhead Tuesday, Franken, DFL, stopped briefly in Fergus Falls. Last February, Franken entered the race for the United States Senate, vying for the seat held by Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.
Franken has visited troops overseas with the USO, traveling to Iraq four times. Those trips, he said, are the highlight of his year, providing him with the opportunity to visit with soldiers first-hand.
“I admire those men and women so much,” he said.
For all the sacrifices they have made, he said, when they return they deserve “the best fully-funded health care. That hasn’t been done by this administration or Congress. These guys should come back and have their jobs. They shouldn’t have to worry about mortgages” and the difference between what they were being paid at the job they left behind and what they make while serving in Iraq.
The government, he said, should wave or pay soldiers’ mortgages while they are serving overseas.
A good starting point to find a solution to the problems in Iraq, Fanken said, “would be a regional conference of all the countries bordering Iraq, with the United Nations taking the lead. The United States is viewed with “tremendous suspicion” and the longer we stay in Iraq, the worse that perception will become.
If it were up to him, Franken said he would start the process of pulling troops out of Iraq by stating his intent to bring them home. Efforts expended in Iraq, he said, are fruitless.
“It’s very clear the Malaki government has no intention of doing anything that needs to be done to bring the country together. I have every reason to believe they just want to consolidate whatever power they have … and persecute the Sunnis when we leave. There’s nothing we can do to change the situation. Staying there won’t change anything.”
For video excerpts of Sue Larson's interview with Al Franken, see the Journal's Video Gallery.