Former U.S. representative praised by national commander for putting veterans first during VA crisis.
Former U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud’s service to veterans – especially during last year’s Department of Veterans Affairs scandal – has earned him The American Legion’s Distinguished Public Service Award.
Michaud, who represented Maine in Congress from 2003-2015 and spent the VA crisis as the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, was presented the award by National Commander Michael D. Helm on Feb. 24 during the annual Washington Conference.
“Last year … he called for leadership change within the Department of Veterans Affairs at the highest level,” Helm said. “Throughout the access to care crisis that began in Phoenix, he worked closely with legislators on both sides of the aisle to ensure investigations into VA were critical, fair, and devoid of partisanship and politics. Throughout the crisis he always strove to put veterans first and to ensure that reform efforts were directed to make things right – not for the Department of Veterans Affairs, but for the veterans the department was created to serve.”
Michaud thanked the Legionnaires who made the trip to D.C. to meet with their members of Congress, telling them how he came into Congress with one view and quickly developed another.
“My first time I got elected as a member of Congress … I was naïve,” he said. “I always thought that veterans were taken care of because you hear politicians all the time … say, ‘We’ve got to thank our veterans. We’ve got to do all we can for our veterans.’ So I naively thought our veterans were taken care of. What I learned is that veterans were not taken care of. When it came time to take put up the money to actually take care of the veterans and their families, that’s where Congress and the administrations have fallen far short.
“That’s why it’s very important for you to be on the Hill: to talk to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, to tell them what your needs are, where the VA is falling short to take care of our veterans, and to move forward in that regard.”
- Washington Conference