Veteran and Military Update - February 2020  

Speaking at the Billings VA naming ceremony honoring Dr. Joe Medicine Crow and Benjamin Steele.

TOP STORY - VA SHOWS SUPPORT FOR MY BILL PROTECTING VETERANS' PENSIONS

• In early February, President Trump released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2021. The Department of Veterans Affairs included language from my bill S.2407, the FREE Veterans Act, which penalizes anyone who tries to scam our veterans out of their hard-earned benefits. 

• I will continue to work with the President and my Senate colleagues to make sure justice is served to those who try to harm our brave vets! 

SUPPORTING THE MILITARY, VETERANS, AND THEIR FAMILIES

• On February 10th, I met with the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of Montana to discuss the needs of Montana’s Guardsmen and women.

• On the 12th, I met with Kate Haegele of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3570 to discuss some of the challenges that face VA employees.

• On February 18th, I had the honor of attending a beautiful ceremony honoring two Montana heroes, Dr. Joe Medicine Crow and Benjamin Steele. Thanks to bipartisan support, two VA facilities in Billings have been renamed after these true Montana patriots.

• On February 28th, I visited Malmstrom AFB and met with Colonel Jennifer Reeves, Commander, 341st Missile Wing, to tour the current construction projects on the base.

Decommissioning ceremony of the USS Frank E. Evans. Photo: history.navy.mil

MY BIPARTISAN VETERANS' LEGISLATION

• To honor the lives and sacrifices of the “Lost 74” Sailors who perished aboard USS Frank E. Evans during the Vietnam War, I signed a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urging him to add their names to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.

• To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the four Americans killed at the US Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, I cosponsored Senator Ed Markey’s (MA) resolution, S.2054.

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