Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, has introduced the most comprehensive legislation for veterans to come before the Senate in decades. Sanders' bill would improve VA health care and dental care, expand educational opportunities, help the VA address a disability claims backlog and help veterans find jobs.

Click the items below to read more and watch videos about several of the bill's provisions. Download a summary of the bill.

As part of the recent bipartisan budget agreement, annual cost-of-living adjustments were reduced for all military retirees under the age of 62. Recently, the president signed into law a restoration of full benefits for all servicemembers and veterans except for those who joined the military after January 1, 2014. This legislation would restore full cost-of-living adjustments for all military retirees.

Improvement and Expansion of Dental Care: A critical aspect of health care, which is all too often overlooked, is dental care. According to the National Institute of Health, dental health and general health should not be interpreted as separate entities. Bad dental health impacts overall health, including, but not limited to, increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and adverse birth outcomes. The men and women who have sacrificed to defend us deserve access to comprehensive health care, including dental care. This legislation includes groundbreaking provisions that would improve and expand VA dental care.

Expanding the Caregivers Program: Wives, husbands, mothers, fathers and other loved ones have put their own lives on hold to care for those who are unable to fully care for themselves as a result of their service to this nation. This legislation rectifies an inequity by giving the same additional services and benefits to caregivers of pre-9/11 veterans, such as Vietnam veterans, that are currently available to only caregivers of post-9/11 veterans.

Extension of Health Care Access for Recently Separated Veterans: This legislation would extend, from five to 10 years, enrollment in VA health care for individuals who served on active duty, including members of the National Guard and Reserves, to address their health care needs early.

Expanded Access to Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Given concerns over access to mental health care and treatment for chronic pain, including overmedication, this legislation would increase access to complementary and alternative medicine such as acupuncture and yoga.

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The disability claims backlog is one of the most significant challenges presently facing the Department of Veterans Affairs. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have presented legislative solutions incorporated in this bill that would support VA's ongoing efforts and make needed improvements to the claims system. VA is making progress on this complex issue, but much more remains to be done. Among a number of claims-related provisions, this bill, for the first time, would require the Department to publicly report on both claims processing goals and actual production.This would allow Congress and the public to closely track and measure VA's progress on this issue.

Several states currently assist all or certain veterans by recognizing them as in-state students for purposes of attending a public educational institution, regardless of length of residency in the state where the veteran is attending college. Yet, many states require transitioning veterans to meet stringent residency requirements before they can be considered in-state residents. This legislation would give our transitioning servicemembers a fair shot at attaining their educational goals without incurring an additional financial burden.

This legislation would reauthorize provisions from the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, including a two-year extension of the popular Veterans Retraining Assistance Program that allows veterans age 35-60 to gain additional training in high-demands fields.

This legislation contains important provisions that would improve the delivery of care and benefits to veterans who experienced sexual trauma while serving in the military.

While the Pentagon, Congress and other stakeholders continue to work to end sexual assault within the military, we must do everything we can to ensure VA is a welcoming place for survivors like Ruth Moore. A veteran who struggled for 23 years to receive VA disability compensation, Moore is the inspiration for provisions in the bill that would expand access to VA counseling and care to members of the Guard and Reserve who experience sexual assault during inactive duty training. Servicemembers should be able to receive the care and counseling they need regardless of when the assault occurred.

This bill also takes a number of steps to improve the adjudication of disability compensation claims related to military sexual trauma. It would also give VA the additional tools it needs to provide these survivors with the care and benefits needed to confront and overcome the emotional and physical consequences of these horrific acts.

With the widespread use of improvised explosive devices throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, both female and male servicemembers have found themselves at increased risk for spinal cord, reproductive, and urinary tract injury. Many of these veterans dream of one day starting a family, but their injuries prevent them from conceiving. This legislation would help them fulfill that dream.

Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to furnish counseling and treatment, including treatments that use assisted reproductive technology, to veterans and the spouses or surrogates of severely wounded, ill, or injured veterans who have an infertility condition incurred or aggregated in the line of duty. This legislation also authorizes VA to help disabled veterans adopt children.

Last year, as a result of the government shutdown, veterans and their survivors were just days away from not receiving their compensation, pension and educational benefits. This legislation would ensure veterans receive consistent access to the benefits they have earned by establishing advance appropriations for the mandatory accounts at VA. Never again would veterans be in jeopardy of not receiving their earned benefits.

This legislation has the strong support of virtually every veterans organization in the country including The American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Click here to read letters of support from veterans organizations.

Join these veterans in showing your support for S. 1982 to the right.