More than 100 years ago, President Teddy Roosevelt spoke to the residents of Springfield, Illinois about how vital it was for the government to keep its commitment to those who fought for our nation, our veterans.  He said that, "A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man is entitled, and less than that no man shall have." 

With veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan joining those veterans who fought and served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and in other conflicts around the globe, those words still ring true today.  Originally begun in 1918 as Armistice Day to recognize those veterans of World War I, this holiday was changed in 1954 to focus on surviving veterans of all American military service.  Today Veterans Day is celebrated each November 11 at events all across our great nation.

In communities large and small, Americans will pause this week to praise the brave men and women who served in our military.  They are the soldiers who volunteer to help keep America secure and protect our freedoms and liberties throughout the world.

That is why I am doing all that I can in Congress to support our veterans and their families.  This Veterans Day, I want to highlight two bills that I believe will improve the quality of life and care for those men and women who served our country with honor and distinction.

The BRAVE Act is legislation that will reduce bureaucracy and give disabled veterans timely access to their Social Security benefits.  Currently, veterans determined to be disabled by the Veterans Administration must still go through an entirely different set of examinations and applications to be judged disabled by the Social Security Administration.  This common sense bill says that if the VA determines you are disabled, that designation should be good enough for Social Security.  This will reduce the time it takes veterans to get their benefits and also reduce redundant paperwork costs.

The second bill is legislation that will specifically allow the construction of a new Walla Walla veterans’ outpatient health care clinic.  As an older facility that serves many veterans in Central Washington, it s important to see that the facility gets the funds necessary to provide better and timelier patient care.  Veterans who fought for our country should not have to fight to get the medical care they earned in service to our nation.  This bill recently passed the House and is expected to be signed into law.

While Veterans Day is an important holiday to honor our heroes, Congress must work year-round to support policies and laws that take care of the needs of all veterans.  I will work hard to meet that challenge during the next two years and do my utmost to appropriately honor Central Washington veterans.  As always, any veteran needing help with federal issues should me for assistance.