This morning, Barack kicked off his second trip to Montana with a town hall meeting at Billings West High School.  A crowd of over 2,000 people came out to hear him speak about his plans to improve our healthcare system, education, and many other issues.

One person asked Barack how he will protect and honor our veterans.  He said:

I think we’ve got to make sure that our veterans get the same benefits my grandfather did when he got back from serving in World War II. We’ve got to make sure that all of our veterans are screened when they return home and are receiving mental health services.

I want zero tolerance for homeless veterans. We should not have a veteran that’s sleeping in a cardboard box anywhere in America. We also need more VA clinics so that clinics are more accessible to those who need them.  You shouldn’t have to drive three or four hours to a VA clinic. Our veterans have served us, and we need to serve them in the same way.

Another person asked Barack how we can stimulate the economy on Indian reservations.  Barack said:

Indian sovereignty has to be respected, and we need to respect our treaty obligations. We need to make sure that we understand these are government to government relations. We need to provide some of the key resources for Indian country to thrive. Number one is healthcare. The healthcare on Indian reservations is terrible and it’s been consistently underfunded.  When I’m President, I’m going to make this a priority.

The second key area is housing. The Bureau of Indian Affairs needs to be working with other federal agencies to create more housing on reservations.

Number three is the issue of energy, which is important to all Montanans. One of our most important tasks is dealing with global warming, capping the emissions of greenhouse gases, and finding new energy sources, such as solar, wind, and biodiesels. We should be working with Indian nations to create sustainable development on Indian reservations. That can generate millions of jobs all across the country and solve our energy crisis.

Check out some video of Barack responding to Senator McCain on foreign policy at the beginning of the town hall:

During the town hall, Barack reminded everyone that they can vote early in Montana.  Make your voice heard by voting today!