Mark Gordon on Homeland Security

Establish Wyoming's first Veterans Skilled Nursing facility

I commend to you the work of establishing Wyoming's first Veterans Skilled Nursing facility. It has been a long time in coming. Building this facility will mark an important step forward for our veterans.

More broadly, I believe we have an obligation to improve access to mental healthcare for our veterans, our first-responders, and ultimately for all citizens.

Substance abuse, moral injury (the impact of actions which violate core moral values), suicide and PTSD, these are all concerns we as a state need to address. We can do more in our communities to help support those who are struggling with crisis.

Happily, in Wyoming there are many organizations working to help those wrestling with these traumas. Through improved coordination of these non-profit, public, & private programs, we can provide better mental health services in places where people live.

Provide a national defense second to none

In this troubled time, it is crucial that we not shrink from this obligation. Our world is becoming increasingly complex. In addition to our ongoing travails with Islamic extremists, we must also remain vigilant about threats emerging elsewhere from places like China, North Korea, and Venezuela.

I believe in a strong national defense that is properly deployed throughout the world. With that as a foundation, we need to have the best equipped, best rested and rotated military. We need to grow the armed forces to support the high operational tempo of current military operations. I am in favor of the addition of Special Forces, soldiers and Marines to meet the security challenges of the 21st Century.