Celebrating Veterans Day; Continuing to Fight

Celebrating Veterans Day
On Thursday, we came together as a nation to honor the service of all of our men and women in uniform. Each year on Veterans Day, we remember those who perished at war and celebrate the courage of those who come home. In Congress, our work is founded on a solemn promise: just as the military pledges to leave no soldier behind on the battlefield, we will leave no veteran behind when they return home.

Congresswoman Pelosi joins San Francisco veterans to celebrate Veterans Day.

On Tuesday, the City of San Francisco, Swords to Plowshares, the Chinatown Community Development Center, and the San Francisco VA Medical Center broke ground on Veterans Commons – new permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless, senior veterans in San Francisco. I fought to secure $380,000 in federal funds to help convert this City-owned building into affordable rental housing with on-site supportive services tailored to the veterans’ needs, and will continue working to secure long-term federal funding for this much needed project.

Since I have become Speaker, the needs of our nation’s veterans have been a top priority for Congress. In the past four years we have:

• Passed the largest increase in veterans funding in history
• Passed in the House a bill to end the Disabled Veterans Tax
• Quadruped the travel reimbursement for veterans traveling to receive care
• Enacted the Post 9/11 GI Bill - restoring the promise of a full, four-year scholarship for our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and we made it transferable to their spouses and children

Our work will not be complete until homeless veterans are off the streets, until we ensure that no veteran in need of care is ever turned away from a VA medical facility, and until no veteran is left to wade through mountains of bureaucratic red tape to settle their claims.

As we honor our veterans, we must always remember our MIAs and POWs. They will never be forgotten. Our nation can never fully repay the debt of gratitude we owe to the courageous men and women who have worn our nation’s uniform.
To support veterans at any time of the year, you can:

• Volunteer to help veterans. Put your unique talents to work by volunteering at a local Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
• Display the American flag. Show your national pride and display our nation’s flag in front of your home. To find proper ways to display the flag, click here. To order an American flag, please contact my office.
• Give to soldiers currently serving. Organize friends and family to send care packages and letters to Americans serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Continuing to Fight
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the people of San Francisco as their elected representative. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to represent California’s 8th Congressional District in the 112th Congress. Driven by the urgency of protecting health care reform, Wall Street reform, and Social Security and Medicare, I have also decided to run for House Democratic Leader in the next Congress.

Over the last two years, we have passed historic legislation in the areas of health care, veterans’ benefits, women's rights, Wall Street reform, and cutting taxes for 95 percent of the American people and millions of small businesses. These accomplishments have begun the difficult work of recovering from the worst economic collapse since the 1930s and prevented our country from plunging into another Great Depression.

However, our work is far from finished. While the role of Democrats in the 112th Congress will change, our commitment to serving the American people will not. I have no intention of allowing our great achievements to be rolled back. It is my hope that we can work in a bipartisan way to create jobs and strengthen the middle class; driven by the urgency of protecting health care reform, Wall Street reform, and Social Security and Medicare

Please feel free to forward this information to your family and friends. To learn more about these efforts, to express your views, or to sign up for email updates, please visit my Web site. I am now on Twitter https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi.