When Congress debates whether to send U.S. forces into harm's way, the financial discussion typically centers on near-term operational costs: troop deployments, weapons systems, logistics, and sustainment. Two veteran lawmakers argue this framing leaves out one of the most predictable and enduring consequences of war: the obligation to care for those who return home. Their proposal, the Full Cost of War Act, seeks to hardwire that obligation into the earliest stages of any future conflict decision.