Politics in America have perhaps never been as divided and polarized as they are right now. But one thing everyone can and should agree on is that government has an obligation to attend to the needs of the brave men and women who served this country in uniform.

Although the Department of Veterans Affairs is full of good people who care deeply for our veterans and wish to provide the best service for them day in and day out, the sad fact is that our government has fallen far short of that obligation for quite some time. Unfortunately, proposed reforms in the current VA budget request would erode that obligation even further.