The American Legion’s Government Affairs office in D.C. continues extensive work on behalf of our nation’s veterans.
Dear American Legion Family members and friends,
In the military when faced with a challenging mission, we relied on the operational assessment, resilience, perseverance and communication.
The same holds true in the civilian world. My visit to attend meetings in Washington, D.C., this week reemphasized the importance of our mission there.
The American Legion’s Government Affairs office in D.C. acts on behalf of our nation’s veterans in lots of ways, and as you can imagine with a new administration and new Congress, they have been busy. They remain fully engaged with the White House, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), bipartisan leaders in Congress, and other government agencies to maintain situational awareness on a myriad of important veteran and military related matters.
A sampling of the progress we have made so far this year:
• The American Legion submitted its eighth testimony to Congress earlier this week only four months into the 119th Congress. Furthermore, we have been asked for the Legion’s support on 92 bills members of Congress have introduced, and have provided feedback on them through Legion resolutions. Delivering our members’ voice through advocacy is the core mission for the D.C. office, and we are delivering.
• In addition to meeting lawmakers and submitting testimony, staff has engaged with officials from VA, the Small Business Administration, Department of Labor and other veterans service organizations. We have met with VA Secretary Doug Collins, his staff and career VA employees numerous times. We have attended several VA meetings to relay our candid feedback about potential changes at the department.
The D.C. office also continues to work with VA to ensure the success of the System Worth Saving and Regional Office Action Review programs. Eight trips are scheduled in 2025 to continue providing best practices and challenges at VA facilities to the Secretary and members of Congress.
Washington is built on relationships. Our public and private efforts have ensured that your voice is being heard at the highest levels of the federal government. We look forward to continuing a proud tradition of affecting positive change for our nation’s veterans in Washington.
I could not be prouder of the progress the D.C. team has already made and look forward to all the achievements yet to come. And I promise our 1.5 million members — and all veterans — these efforts on your behalf will result in improvements for generations of veterans to come.
National Commander
James LaCoursiere Jr.
- Commander