Sestak is a leader in advocating for veterans

To the Editor:
You may or may not know much about our senator, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). The latest advertisement in support of Toomey, paid for by the Koch Brothers, portrays him as a leader in passing legislation for veterans' health care and benefits. I'm writing this letter to illuminate this desperate, misleading ad.

Toomey has not been a leader in helping veterans. In one of the more recent instances of Toomey even voting for legislation that could support veterans, he only did so when the situation had already reached emergency levels. It should also be noted that the majority of Senators (97 of them) decided to vote for this legislation as well, so Toomey was hardly being a leader in this regard, he jumped on board after the legislation was guaranteed to pass.

This is why I'm voting for Joe Sestak instead; he has demonstrated himself to be a leader in providing veterans with benefits and quality health care. When a plan was put forward that would force veterans to pay for service-related injuries or disabilities, Sestak led the opposition to the plan. After Sestak wrote to President Obama to oppose the plan, the proposal was cancelled.

Sestak also championed and passed the largest increase in Veterans Administration funding in the entire 77-year history of the Veterans Administration. Again and again, Sestak has demonstrated that he is a leader in supporting the needs of our veterans, ensuring that the VA receives the funding it needs so that vets can get the benefits and health care they need and that we have promised they will receive. We cannot continue to send our children to war and then turn our backs on them when they need our support the most.

Henry R. Bickel IV
Swiftwater, Pa.