From June 10-13th I was honored to join our Chapter delegation at the 2024 PVA Advocacy/Legislation Seminary in Washington D.C. with the theme Pushing Access Forward. Our team consisted of Chapter President and National Director Brad Carlson and his wife Kathy, Chapter Board of Director Gary Jezierski, Chapter volunteer Denise Pease, and Chapter Director of Government and Community Affairs Kristen McCone Gordon. The week was quite impactful as we advocated for the health and quality of life needs and issues for our members, so for my article this month I would like to primarily focus on the highlights of our trip.
It is a unique opportunity to build relationships with our local members of Congress, and I am very proud of how we advocated for our members that they may have equitable access to the same opportunities and freedoms available to all Americans.
On the first day of the Seminar, we had a full day of training to prepare for our Capitol Hill meetings later in the week. We learned in extensive detail about the 2024 PVA National policy priorities, which included protecting access to VA’s specialized health care services, expanding access to VA long-term services and supports, improving VA benefits and health care services for paralyzed veterans and their survivors, protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities, improving access to social security benefits, and increasing employment prospects for veterans with disabilities. We learned about specific and current bills that relate to all these issues, including the Veterans Accessibility Act, Justice for ALS Veterans Act, Veterans Infertility Treatment Act, Disability Employment Act, the Elizabeth Dole Home and Community Based Services for Veterans and Caregivers Act, Autonomy for Disabled Veterans Act, the VETS Safe Travel Act, and the Stop the Wait Act. This training was very helpful to us as we prepared to go to Capitol Hill for 2 days of articulating the needs of our members and their families and caregivers.
Over the next 2 days on Capitol Hill, we had several meetings with New England legislators or their staff, including with Congresswoman Clark (from my home district), Senator Blumenthal, Congresswoman DeLauro, Congressman Amo, Senator Markey, Senator Murphy (no relation), and Congresswoman Trahan. These in-person meetings are of course an extension of our year-round advocacy, but the Annual PVA Seminar is an opportunity to meet with our legislators at the very place where the laws we are advocating for are passed. It is a unique opportunity to build relationships with our local members of Congress, and I am very proud of how we advocated for our members that they may have equitable access to the same opportunities and freedoms available to all Americans.
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