What Jared is Doing NOW to Honor Our Troops
Every candidate talks about respecting and honoring the military service members who risk their lives in service to our country, but Jared is the only candidate who is taking action in this regard. He authored AB 1805 this year to ensure that our nation’s overseas military and international support personnel can vote in the local and state elections of the communities they call home. The bill passed with bipartisan support and Governor Brown signed it into law on September 29. These servicemen and women have strong ties to those communities through their families and friends, and deserve the ability to help determine the leadership and direction of those communities by exercising their right to vote.
Jared also honors our veterans each year by participating in the Assembly’s “Veteran of the Year” ceremonies, Veterans Day parades, and other tributes to the women and men who have served our country so well.
With Col. Steve Countouriotis at the 2011 Veterans Day Parade in Petaluma
Jared believes in a strong national defense focused on actual threats to our security, and that neither our security nor our standing in the world is advanced when our military is engaged unnecessarily.
President John F. Kennedy once said, “The world knows that America will never start a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war and hate... we want to build a world of peace where the weak are secure and the strong are just.”
Sadly, after an unconscionable war of choice in Iraq and a tragically prolonged war in Afghanistan that should have ended years ago, our country has lost sight of Kennedy’s ideal – and we’ve also lost critical moral authority and credibility in the world.
On Iraq, Jared opposed the war from the beginning and spoke out against it on the Assembly floor. He applauds President Obama for keeping his promise to expeditiously bring our troops home from that country. On Afghanistan, Jared disagrees with the slow pace of troop withdrawal and will push the administration to end the war and immediately bring our troops home.
While honoring the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, Jared supports significant changes in our military and foreign policy. This includes downsizing and re-focusing our military on modern security needs instead of the costly global forward-positioning left over from the Cold War.
Jared believes it is imperative to our long-term security, economic and environmental interests that we eliminate our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels. Click here to read more about Jared’s leadership in promoting domestic clean-energy solutions.
Finally, Jared believes that even during these turbulent economic times, the government must do all it can to continue the programs put in place to help veterans as they return to lead successful lives after having served their country. Jared is also committed to providing care for the tens of thousands who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and need critical services.
Jared’s foreign policy priorities include:
- Bringing our troops home and ending the war in Afghanistan immediately
- Scaling back unnecessary global forward deployments
- When our national security is at stake, giving diplomacy, international coalitions, and sanctions maximum support to avoid military conflict
- Reducing our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels
- Honoring the service of our veterans by taking care of their needs