On Oct. 22 President Obama and Gov. Romney engaged in the third and final presidential debate of the election calendar. This debate focused on the critical issues of American foreign policy; issues that are increasingly important in an era of American global supremacy.

While the candidates traded barbs on critical issues such as Israel, Iran and military preparedness, one issue not addressed is the depleted state of veteran care by the federal government. As a retired Marine, I find this omission to be the latest in a deplorable list of snubs that have occurred during this administration.

On July 11, CBS News reported on the hardships of fellow veterans in dealing with claims from the Veteran's Affairs office. One suffered from a fused spine from an injury sustained in Iraq, and another described the piles of bureaucratic paperwork that literally surrounded her in her attempt to file a simple claim.

The underlying reason for the story was the fact that these veterans, like so many others, are still waiting inexplicably for their reimbursements for injuries received in combat as well as their pensions.

Earlier this month, CNS News put numbers to the narrative. Under President Obama, the backlog of veteran disabilities claims has increased by 179 percent. In what they describe as being "near record levels," 65.8 percent of claims are backlogged for more than 125 days -- or a little over four months.

By contrast, during President Bush's second term this number was 21 percent, a still unacceptable plateau but far better than the current rate.

Lest we get lost in meaningless numbers, these figures represent real veterans. The number of outstanding claims before the VA, as of the first week of October, was a staggering 883,949 brothers and sisters. That is nearly 1 million American soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines who are waiting more than four months for proper VA service. This number has nearly doubled from the previous administration.

In a nation now somewhat accustomed to war, these numbers are easy to gloss over. But each one of these people put their lives on the line for our nation and its freedom, and the fact that they are not receiving proper care from their government is more than troubling. In fact, it is disgraceful.

It is even more disgraceful that this is in addition to the failure of the Obama administration to protect our diplomats in Libya that should deeply disturb the American electorate.

In the same CNS article, Veterans Affairs secretary Eric Shinseki promised to relieve the backlog by 2015.

I would recommend that the American people start in November by holding the administration accountable for a failure to address the problem in the first place.

Rod Jetton is a retired Marine and served as Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008.