PROTECTING VA BUDGET, DOD QUALITY OF LIFE PROGRAMS TOP VFW LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Senator Murray to Receive 2013 VFW Congressional Award
March 01, 2013
WASHINGTON (March 1, 2013) — More than 600 members
of the nation’s oldest and largest major combat veterans’ organization are
arriving in Washington this weekend to urge their members of Congress to
protect the Department of Veterans Affairs budget from sequestration, as well
as Defense Department quality of life programs for the troops and their
families.
Armed
with the VFW
Legislative Priority Goals for 2013, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the
U.S. will visit every congressional office to present the VFW’s legislative
position on a variety of veterans’ and military issues, ranging from the impact
of sequestration on military quality of life programs and future VA budget
submissions to VA benefits, healthcare, wounded warriors, women veterans,
education, suicides, homelessness, and the need to protect programmed funding
increases for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.
VFW
National Commander John E. Hamilton will present these concerns in testimony
before a joint hearing of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees on
Tuesday morning, followed by the presentation of the 2013 VFW Congressional
Award to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) that afternoon.
As
the former chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Senator Murray
championed legislation to provide advanced appropriations funding for VA
healthcare accounts. She worked tirelessly to advocate on behalf of service
members with Post Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injuries, and oversaw
improvements in the care and treatment of wounded warriors and women veterans.
“Senator
Murray leads from the heart, and we are proud of her leadership, her advocacy,
and her staunch support of veterans,” said Hamilton, a combat wounded Vietnam
Marine Corps rifleman from St. Augustine, Fla. “And even though she stepped down
as the VA Committee chair in order to assume the gavel over at the Senate
Budget Committee, we know she will remain a powerful voice in Congress for all
veterans.”
Other legislative conference events include:
- Hosting a Wounded
Warrior Dinner tonight at the National Press Club for about 60 wounded troops
and their families from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at
nearby Bethesda, Md.
- Awarding a $30,000
scholarship Sunday evening at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Va., to the
winner of the annual VFW Voice of Democracy program, a patriotic-themed contest
that this year judged almost 65,000 high school student entries. The winner
will be joined onstage by eight-grader Mariessa McKenna, from Crofton
Middle School in Crofton, Md., who beat 110,000 other
middle school students to win a $5,000 scholarship in the VFW’s annual
Patriot’s Pen contest.
The VFW will stream live video of the 2013
Voice of Democracy Parade of Winners beginning at 6 p.m. (EST), Sunday, and
post video Tuesday afternoon of the VFW national commander’s congressional
testimony. View all on the VFW homepage at www.vfw.org.
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