This July 4th marks the 232nd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, an unprecedented document that heralded a bold new vision for a young country. But more than just the foundation for this nation, its ideas inspired the world.

Today, as we celebrate the freedoms conceived long ago and safeguarded for two hundred years, we would do well to remember the last clause of that declaration. Determined to succeed against overwhelming odds, our founders dedicated all that they had to this new nation, declaring, “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Our founders understood that leadership is not simply sending an army to war. It is committing a nation to war. The same principle holds true today. Our men and women in uniform are again at war. They have sacrificed willingly and they serve nobly. But our government has declined to engage the nation. In efforts to avoid acknowledging the costs of war, our government has even refused to honor commitments to our veterans when they return.

Too many elected representatives followed meekly or looked the other way as our government denied the need to match the needs of veterans with adequate provisions. Steve Buyer, the incumbent congressman from this district, served as Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee and is now its ranking member. He has been in one of the best positions in Congress to stand up for our veterans. But instead, he aggressively led the effort to cut veterans benefits, even proposing an unprecedented tax on veterans to pay for access to their Veterans Administration healthcare.

That is not all. In a false hope that the war would be won at little cost, our government failed to provide adequate body armor and IED-armored vehicles until thousands of troops were unnecessarily wounded and hundreds were killed. Ill-considered budget cuts and lack of congressional oversight led to the 2006 Walter Reed scandal. Just last month, a new low was reached with the revelation of Veterans Administration testing of experimental drugs on veterans without informed consent or the mention of life-threatening side effects.

Almost seven years and more than 4,000 lives and trillions of dollars into this war, let us on this 4th of July, determine to right some of the wrongs that have been done. We cannot un-ring the bell that led us to where we are in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we dare not stay the course of dishonoring our commitments to our veterans.

We in this generation should be committed to match our founders’ pledge. We should commit of our fortunes and our sacred honor to fulfill our sacred contract with those who have already committed their lives in our service.