Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole has gone AWOL when it comes to voting for health care and other benefits for our nation’s veterans.

Her tour today at the Fayetteville VA Medical Center is an episode of political theater, said NCDP Chair Jerry Meek.

“It is pure hypocrisy for Sen. Dole to look these veterans in the eye, act like she cares about them, and then return to Washington to vote against them,” Meek said.

“In vote after vote, Dole shows a blatant disregard for the sacrifices the military and their families make daily in service of our country,” Meek said.

For example:

Earlier this year, Dole voted against two separate measures to increase funding for veterans by $3.5 billion and $6.7 billion, respectively.

Dole even missed the vote to give veterans $6.7 billion more next year. [Vote #114, 3/23/07; Vote #172, 5/17/07 Senate Budget Committee, 3/20/07, 5/17/07]

Dole also killed an amendment that eliminated the tripling of fees for veterans and their families enrolled in the TRICARE program. The move affected three million military retirees. [Vote #67, 3/16/06; Washington Post, 3/16/06]

But Dole does show up to protect the interests of corporations and the wealthy.

Dole helped kill an amendment last year that would have made veterans health benefits a mandatory program and would have offset the costs by closing corporate loopholes and scaling back tax cuts for the wealthy.

The measure also provided full funding for veterans medical care to ensure that the VA has the resources necessary to provide quality health care in a timely manner. [Vote #63, 3/16/06]