Well-known Colorado Democrats, Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jason Crow, appeared alongside congressional hopeful Jessica Killin on Friday afternoon to address questions from veterans.

The event at Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center featured key veterans’ issues, such as suicide prevention and fair Department of Veterans Affairs benefits.

Also rising to the top were general issues, such as President Donald Trump’s cuts to the federal government and the recently ended Iran war in front of an enthusiastic crowd of about 60.

All three panelists were running for election, with Bennet campaigning for governor and Crow running for reelection to represent Aurora.

Crow and Bennet promoted Killin as the right person to replace Republican Congressman Jeff Crank in November in part because of her experience in the Army. She served as a paratrooper and military police officer.

Killin faces Joe Reagan, also an Army veteran, in the Democratic primary for Congressional District 5, but she said she has been doing the work to win on June 30.

“We have been knocking on doors, making phone calls … we feel very confident,” she said.

Killin went on to say she believes Crank is uniquely vulnerable, in part, because he didn’t do enough to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs, he hasn’t worked to put a check on tariffs that hurt small businesses or work to stop conflict in Iran.

She also has funding to challenge Crank. A campaign committee backing Killin showed it had about $1.37 million on hand as of June 10, according to Federal Election Commission records. A committee promoting Crank had $1.29 million on hand.

Reagan had $33,000 on hand, records show.

“When I think about what the job is of a member of the House of Representatives, it’s to actually show up for your community, listen to your community, but also stand up to the executive branch,” she said.

On veterans’ issues, Killin said she would like to see the VA’s classification system for veterans’ disabilities updated because it is 80 years old.

“I think right now what we’re seeing is some veterans are not getting the disability care that they need, and others are probably getting a little bit too much because of this old classification system,” she said.

When it comes to deaths by suicide, Killin experienced loss firsthand when a soldier in her platoon took their life.

“We have failed at the Pentagon addressing those underlying issues,” she said.

Once a service member leaves the military, if they experience a mental health crisis, it can take two to three months at the VA to get an appointment, and that is unacceptable, she said.

Next Chapter, a program through Mt. Carmel and UCHealth, has seen success addressing the crisis of veterans’ deaths in town, and models like that should be supported so they can have as broad of an impact as possible, she said.

Crow and Killin framed the federal government as dramatically changed by the Trump administration and unlikely to return to its prior state, but it offers an opportunity to build something better.

“I do believe that out of this dumpster fire situation we’re in, that we can build back something that is more — that actually does deliver results for the American people, that is more strategic, that has less bureaucracy, that has less red tape,” she said.