Branstad pledges support for veterans, families

URBANDALE – Former Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday praised the Legislature and Gov. Chet Culver for their bipartisan work to aid Iowa soldiers, veterans and their families, but pledged to do even more to meet their needs heading into the large military deployment in Iowa history.

“Being the only veteran who's a candidate for governor, I feel exceptionally close to the veterans' community,” Branstad said at a news conference where he was flanked by members of his Veterans for Branstad coalition.

“We need to be there for the veterans and their families, we need to provide the assistance that they need critically when they're deployed but, more importantly, when they come back, make sure the jobs are there and also to make sure that the services are there that they need for themselves and their families.”

Branstad, a 2010 GOP candidate who served four terms as Iowa governor from 1983 to 1999, touted his record on veterans' issues, saying more Iowa National Guard armories were built during his 16-year tenure than at any other time in Iowa history and that he was “there for veterans time and time again.”

Branstad, who is battling Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats and Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll, for the GOP gubernatorial nomination June 8, expressed dismay there currently is not a permanent commandant to oversee the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown and that the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs and its commission have been reduced to an advisory capacity. He pledged to restore their previous oversight status.

The former governor applauded the 2010 Legislature for making Iowa the first state to enact all 10 of the U.S. Defense Department's quality-of-life measures for soldiers and families of service members.

But he took issue with the way the Democratic majority chose to fund an effort to provide jobless compensation for trailing spouses he funding the program from the state's unemployment trust fund financed via employer contributions. He said he sided with minority GOP lawmakers who objected to using unemployment tax proceeds at a time when the fund is “stressed” due to increased demand for jobless benefits but did not offer an alternative funding source.

Branstad, who was drafted in September 1969 and was stationed with a military police battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C., during his two years of active duty, also Monday announced statewide support of more than 160 veterans for his candidacy and a 10-member council of generals to advise him on military-related issues.

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