Election 2026

Independent, source-first accountability

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Issue record

Veterans and the military

In short

Nunn's campaign says he backs funding the military and putting veterans first, and calls him a 20-year combat veteran. Trone Garriott's campaign backs wider veterans' services, especially in rural areas, and more suicide prevention. On the record, Nunn's first House-passed bill was on business reporting, not military parental leave as his campaign says. The leave, from a bill he cosponsored, became law in the 2024 defense act, which he voted for.

Campaign positions

What each campaign says.

Zach Nunn

His campaign says he supported policies that both fund the military adequately and prioritize veterans, active military, military families and mental health, and describes him as a twenty-year combat veteran.

Sarah Trone Garriott

Her campaign says she would expand access to Veterans Affairs services, especially in rural areas, so veterans can reach housing, education and job training without obstacles, and would increase investment in suicide prevention and crisis response.

Evidence timeline

What the record shows.

  1. official action

    Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction

    His first House-passed bill concerned business reporting. Guard/reserve leave came from a bill he cosponsored, enacted in the fiscal 2024 defense law he backed in December 2023.

    Read the full check

    Full detail

    His campaign says his first bill to pass the House expanded parental leave for military parents. The first bill he sponsored that passed the House was H.R. 5119, the Protect Small Business and Prevent Illicit Financial Activity Act, on December 12, 2023; it concerns beneficial-ownership reporting, not parental leave. Across the 118th and 119th Congresses he sponsored no bill on parental leave, and none of the nine floor amendments he offered, eight of which were agreed to and one withdrawn, concerned it. He did cosponsor two parental-leave bills. He was one of three cosponsors, and an original cosponsor, of the Reserve Component Parental Leave Parity Act (H.R. 2597, 2023), which would have given parental leave to members of the National Guard and other reserve components; it never passed as a standalone bill, but the same provision was enacted as section 601 of the fiscal year 2024 defense act, which he voted for on December 14, 2023 and which became Public Law 118-31 and created section 711 of title 10. He was the sole cosponsor of the Coast Guard Reserve Parental Leave Parity Act (H.R. 7952, 2024), which also never passed as a standalone bill; section 603 of Public Law 118-159, the fiscal year 2025 defense act, which he voted for on December 11, 2024, extended that same section 711 to the Coast Guard Reserve. Limit: The leave became law inside the 2024 defense act, from a bill he cosponsored and voted for. It was not his first bill to pass the House; that was H.R. 5119, two days earlier.

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Sources10 source records

How we use sources

  1. Issueshttps://zachnunn.com/issues/

    Zach Nunn for Congress · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    Campaign-controlled platform text, fetched live 2026-09-10 (HTTP 200).

    candidate statement

    For: Zach Nunn: campaign position; Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction

  2. Where I Stand: Serving our veterans like they served ushttps://sarahforiowa.com/issue/serving-our-veterans-like-they-served-us/

    Sarah for Iowa · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    The campaign's own issue page, read from the Internet Archive snapshot of September 4, 2026, because the live site returns HTTP 403 to automated readers. Snapshot: http://web.archive.org/web/20260904190055/https://sarahforiowa.com/issue/serving-our-veterans-like-they-served-us/.

    candidate statement

    For: Sarah Trone Garriott: campaign position

  3. H.R. 5119 (118th Congress), Protect Small Business and Prevent Illicit Financial Activity Acthttps://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5119

    Congress.gov · Published Dec 12, 2023 · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    Sponsored by Nunn; passed the House 2023-12-12, the first of his bills to do so; received in the Senate and not enacted.

    official legislative record

    For: Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction

  4. Representative Zach Nunn, sponsored and cosponsored legislationhttps://www.congress.gov/member/zach-nunn/N000193

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    114 sponsored bills and resolutions plus 9 floor amendments, and 874 cosponsorships, across the 118th and 119th Congresses; pulled 2026-09-10.

    official legislative record

    For: Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction

  5. H.R. 7952 (118th Congress), Coast Guard Reserve Parental Leave Parity Acthttps://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7952/cosponsors

    Congress.gov · Published Apr 11, 2024 · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    Cosponsored by Nunn; referred to the House Armed Services Committee and never passed as a standalone bill.

    official legislative record

    For: Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction

  6. Public Law 118-159, section 603, extension of parental leave to members of the Coast Guard Reservehttps://www.congress.gov/118/plaws/publ159/PLAW-118publ159.htm

    Congress.gov · Published Dec 23, 2024 · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    The enacted fiscal year 2025 defense act; its section 603 extends parental leave to the Coast Guard Reserve. Text read 2026-09-10.

    official legislative record

    For: Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction

  7. House Roll Call 500, 2024, H.R. 5009 (document)

    Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · Published Dec 11, 2024 · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    Motion to concur in the Senate amendment with an amendment, passed 281 to 140; Nunn Yea.

    official legislative record

    For: Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction

  8. H.R. 2597, Reserve Component Parental Leave Parity Act (118th Congress)https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2597/cosponsors

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    Nunn is one of three cosponsors and an original cosponsor, dated 13 April 2023. The bill would have given parental leave to members of the National Guard and other reserve components; it did not pass as a standalone bill.

    official legislative record

    For: Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction

  9. Public Law 118-31, section 601https://www.congress.gov/118/plaws/publ31/PLAW-118publ31.htm

    U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    The fiscal year 2024 defense act. Section 601, parental leave parity for members of certain reserve components, created section 711 of title 10, the provision H.R. 2597 carried.

    official legislative record

    For: Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction

  10. House roll call 723 of 2023 (document)

    Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives · Reviewed Sep 10, 2026

    Agreeing to the conference report on the fiscal year 2024 defense act, 14 December 2023; Nunn voted Yea.

    official legislative record

    For: Zach Nunn: Matches stated direction