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.
Please share widely!
kate says
I was travelling in Vermont a few years ago. One of the motel guests and I started chatting. I forget how it came up, but she mentioned that she was from Malden. I asked her if she knew Congressman Markey. She didn’t know him but mentioned that his staff had reached out to her in order to ensure that she and her family had her deceased father’s medals from his service.
Now that Memorial Day weekend is just about over, let’s get this guy elected! We have just a month! To get involved in Ed Markey’s campaign, call (617) 286-4147 or signup here. There are many ways to help.
jconway says
The late John Spencer, the actor who played Leo McGarry put it best in an interview when he said why he defined his and his onscreen characters form I liberalism: “we take care of our own”. That’s it, nothing more to it.
When it comes to our veterans this obligation is even more pronounced, we take care of our own because they took care of us by serving their community and protecting our country. Salute every one you see today and every day, and sometimes just say thanks. From the big (working with Teddy Kennedy to get armor to our troops, working to end the war and bring them home, being a consistent sponsor and voter for the Filipino Veterans Equity Act) to the small (that story about adding names to the Vietnam sculpture)-Ed Markey has walked the walk when it comes to our soldiers.
I respect and honor the service of Gabriel Gomez as well, but I know between the two of them Ed has the better track record of taking care of our own and having the troops back. Bar none.
HeartlandDem says
Bring them home. Let’s rebuild our country.