Military preparedness; the
U.S. military must commit the resources needed to deal with multiple trouble spots from North Korea to the Middle East.Rhode Island needs a U.S. Senator that stands up for the safety and security of our country.
Source: 2018 R.I. Senate campaign website FlandersForSenate.com
Nov 1, 2018
Bob Flanders:
Operation Stand Down: support services for veterans
Our veterans have fought for us, we need to fight for them. Spent the day today at Operation Stand Down Rhode Island in Cumberland, a tremendous organization that provides essential services to our veterans in need. Please stop by this weekend and
support R.I. vets. God bless our veterans and the United States of America.[Organization and event description from OSDRI.org]: OSDRI sets up a military style encampment and invites service providers from across the state to join us to deliver life
essential services to veterans in need. In 2017, approximately 500 homeless and at-risk veterans attended Stand Down Weekend. Additionally, more than 200 volunteers and over fifty nonprofit, state and federal agencies came together at the outreach event
to provide the veterans with services including housing assistance, medical, dental, benefit claims, mental health care, legal assistance, DMV services, financial planning, employment and training resources, basic human needs assistance and much more.
Source: 2018 R.I. Senate campaign press release
Sep 14, 2018
Gina Raimondo:
Honor and support our veteran population, including housing
Gina will work every day to ensure that all Rhode Islanders are treated fairly and with the respect they deserve. She will fight for policies that give working families the support they need to thrive.- Honor and support
Rhode Island's Veteran population by helping returning vets find new jobs and access to stable, affordable housing.
- Develop more affordable housing and fully fund Opening Doors to reduce homelessness, especially for our Veterans.
Source: 2014 R.I. Gubernatorial campaign website, GinaRaimondo.com
Nov 4, 2014
Lincoln Chafee:
Keep Rhode Island's military installations thriving
I've worked hard in the Senate to make sure Rhode Island's military installations are thriving and it's something called the base realignment and closure process that comes along every five or so years. It's always a big threat because you don't want to
lose your military bases. But in this process, Rhode Island gained. One of the few areas to gain employment because of the hard work we did at building up these military installations, investing in them over the years.
Source: 2006 R.I. Republican Senate Primary debate on WPRI
Aug 24, 2006
Mark Zaccaria:
Cut government, including cutting military (except salary)
We need to make real, actual reductions in the cost of federal government. Every function in every department is on the table. Decreasing military salaries & benefits means decreasing troop strength, not cutting individuals pay. To do that we need to
conclude expeditionary activities abroad and return substantial forces to the US from overseas postings. Congress should appropriate only a portion of the [previous] budget levels and then federal managers should Manage--to live within those limits.
Source: R.I. Congressional 2010 PVS Political Courage Test
Nov 1, 2010
Stephen Laffey:
We need to expand weapons programs
I don't see large programs that need to be cut when it comes to the military defense. The first thing we do was protect life & liberty &happiness in the country. So I think we need to expand weapons programs. Our antiballistic missile program is lagging.
We have some aged missiles sitting on some cruisers off the coast of North Korea but that's not what we should have been doing for the last 25 years. We should?ve been building up the ability to take out rockets that come out even in the blue stage.
Source: 2006 R.I. Republican Senate Primary debate on WPRI
Aug 24, 2006
Page last updated: Feb 07, 2026