Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke toured the Iowa Veterans Home and spoke about domestic and foreign policy Wednesday.

The former Texas congressman and U.S. Senate candidate said mental health care was one of the major topics to come up during his private tour with Iowa Veterans Home Commandant Timon Oujiri. O’Rourke spoke with several veterans and staff members.

“My last meeting was with some of the mental health care staff and that’s a really important issue to me,” he said. “We’re seeing an alarming rate of veteran suicide across the country.”

O’Rourke cited data from 2016 showing about 20 veterans a day commit suicide.

“Our veterans proposals focus on ensuring that every single person who has borne the battle or served this country gets access to the care that they need to be at their best,” he said. “My philosophy is that this country should spare no expense, we should bear any burden to make sure we deliver for those who have stood up and served this country.”

Specifically, O’Rourke said things like outpatient care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in-home services and more would help reduce suicide rates and improve general care for veterans.

Investing in veterans’ career and education opportunities and cures to combat-specific conditions, such as those caused by Agent Orange or Gulf War Illness, were other areas of focus for O’Rourke.

The candidate also addressed generally decreasing poll numbers in recent days.

“I’ve never really taken much stock in them,” O’Rourke said. “The best way to address our goal, which is to win the caucus here in Iowa, is to continue to hold the town hall meetings, to gain the commitments of caucus-goers, and to expand the electorate that will participate, which is something that we did in Texas.”

He said polls conducted in his successful congressional run and close but unsuccessful Senate run failed to predict the number of voters who turned out for him.

On foreign policy, O’Rourke said he would work to reinstate a deal with Iran to halt their production of nuclear-grade uranium. President Donald Trump rejected such an agreement organized between the Barack Obama administration and Iran.

O’Rourke said a nuclear Iran presents an existential threat to the United States, as well as the Middle East region.

On North Korea, O’Rourke said despite talks between Trump and Kim-Jong Un, little progress has been made to stop that country’s nuclear weapons program. His comments came after Trump was the first ever sitting U.S. president to physically enter North Korea.

O’Rourke was joined on Wednesday’s Iowa Veterans Home tour by Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer and state Rep. Mark Smith.

“He didn’t just see the front areas, but he also saw the areas that people work in every day,” Smith said of O’Rourke. “I thought he had some very good conversations with people and I was very impressed with his willingness to talk with residents and staff and spend as much time as necessary to get their answers.

Smith has already officially endorsed Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. He said he was happy to hear O’Rourke address veterans’ mental health.

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Contact Adam Sodders at 641-753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com