In Honor of Service
On this Memorial Day weekend, I know I will join all of you in honoring our veterans who have served and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We’ve lost 6,648 U.S. service members in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 119 from Massachusetts.
I believe it is our sacred responsibility to honor and care for all who serve in the military and who put their lives on the line for our country. In Congress, I’ve worked to make sure we meet that responsibility.
In 2012, I sponsored the Veterans Jobs Corps Act. That bill would expand job-training programs for returning service members, put veterans back to work right away, and expand opportunities for veteran-owned businesses.
I also know how important it is to strengthen the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Today, the VA is processing a record number of cases. But according to one recent report, there are 11,000 veterans in Massachusetts who are waiting on their benefits. I support fully funding the VA so we can cut the backlog and ensure our veterans get the services they need as quickly as possible. I’ve also been a strong advocate for increasing VA funding so it can renovate its facilities to represent the changing makeup of our returning veterans.
Across the country, 9.3 million veterans are on Social Security, which amounts to one-in-five Social Security beneficiaries. That’s one reason I oppose a proposal called “Chained CPI,” which would change the way we calculate Social Security benefits. Chained CPI really just stands for Cutting People’s Income. For example, a veteran with average earnings who retires at age 65 would get nearly $600 lopped off their benefits. That’s wrong and in Washington, I will fight to make sure this proposal doesn’t pass.
Closer to home, I’ve worked with veterans of our state to make Congress is meeting their needs. In 2005, I met a veteran from Winthrop who had been wounded in combat. His story greatly inspired me and I worked with him to write and pass a law to create special rehabilitation pay for all service members who get wounded in combat zones.
Eighteen years ago, a woman named Alice Del Rossi came to my office and explained that while her nephew’s name was on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall, her brother was not allowed on it, even though he too had died in Vietnam in service of his country. At the time, the Department of Defense officially acknowledged the start of the war in 1959. I worked with DOD officials and convinced them to change their policy. That effort was successful and Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon’s name was added to the Vietnam Wall, reuniting father and son.
I’ve been proud and honored to work for the veterans of the Commonwealth and the country. That’s the work I’ll continue if elected to the United States Senate.
Everyone please have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day. And may God bless our troops.
This post was originally published on Blue Mass Group.
