Elizabeth Warren hosts Boston forum on service members, releases report

“Republicans want to take away the rights of people who put their lives on the line to keep us safe,” the senator said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is releasing a report on her accomplishments as a member of the ​​Senate Armed Services Committee Monday, following her remarks at a forum in Boston Sept. 6, calling for more tools to prevent and treat service members’ traumatic brain injuries.

“All three of my brothers served in the military, so supporting our active-duty service members and our veterans is personal to me,” Warren said at the panel at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown. “Service members put their lives on the line, and in return, we have a duty to do all that we can to keep them safe, to protect them from unnecessary risks, and to get them the care they deserve.”

Warren recently introduced legislation that would help mitigate blast overpressure by increasing screening, tracking, prevention, and treatment measures.

“Evidence is mounting that blast overpressure from explosions is causing substantial physical damage to the brains of our service members,” Warren, who spoke with several senators in Washington to discuss the findings from the Boston meeting, told Boston.com.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee for eight years, Warren introduced 41 pieces of legislation referred to the Committee and cosponsored 63 others, according to an exclusive report shared with Boston.com.

Warren has also attempted to address other health care issues for service members.

Following the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, which caused 40% of active duty service members to lose abortion access, Warren said she put pressure on the Department of Defense to implement policies to protect abortion access, including travel allowances for service members if reproductive health care services are not available in their permanent duty station.

Warren, a staunch advocate for reproductive rights, promoted Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign’s reproductive freedom bus tour across the country last month.

“I’m on the Senate Armed Services to stand up for service members and to protect their right to abortion and all health care,” she said. “Republicans want to take away the rights of people who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.”

Half of all federal spending goes toward the Department of Defense, Warren said, which has “a profound impact on our nation’s financial health.”

“It affects us right here in Massachusetts,” she said. “How we treat our active duty military, our veterans, and our military families has an important impact on who serves and what their experiences are like.”

Warren worked to attain $490 million for construction for military bases and facilities, including family housing and safety upgrades in Massachusetts, according to the report, and got a commitment for F-35s to be stationed at Barnes Air National Guard Base.

“I’ve worked hard to make sure that Massachusetts is effectively represented,” Warren said. “I’ve made sure that Massachusetts has a seat at the table when decisions are made about military spending.”

Republican nominee and Marine veteran John Deaton is attempting to unseat Warren, who is the Democratic incumbent, in the race for U.S. Senate this November, challenging her to five debates. Warren has agreed to two debates in October.