Governor Celebrates Grand Opening of West Los Angeles Veterans Home

Thank you. Thank you very much, Tom, for the wonderful introduction. What a great honor it is to be here today this morning in this distinguished company of so many military men and women to dedicate and to celebrate the sixth veterans home here in the state of California. What a great celebration.

And I just want to say, first of all, thank you so much, all of you. Thank you to the organizing committee for organizing this event here today and bringing all of us together, all of you and all the dignitaries that are up here on the stage and the wonderful band and the speakers and so on. So thank you very much. Let's give them a big hand for the great organization. (Applause)

Now, as you have heard, it is very fitting that today is Flag Day. And, of course, when we talk about Flag Day, a lot of you have flags in your hands -- I take it a little bit more seriously. (Applause) You see, to me -- to me Flag Day is every day. (Applause) Perhaps nothing symbolizes America's freedom more than her flag. And as each and every one of you knows, that freedom is not free. For more than 200 years it's been paid for in blood and in sacrifice by those who have worn our nation's uniform. Let us never forget that America is the land of the free only because it is the home of the brave. (Applause)

And as an immigrant, no one appreciates America's liberty and the bravery of our military men and women more than I do. Their sacrifice is what gave me and millions and millions of immigrants the opportunity to come to this country and to experience freedom and to build a career and a family and to live the American Dream. So I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you. (Applause)

And let us never forget that everything that makes America so great -- our ideals, our freedoms, our rights -- come from our military. As the famous poem goes:

It is the soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet
Who has given us the freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag
Who serves under the flag
And whose coffin is draped by the flag
Who gives the protestor the right to burn the flag.

So to all American veterans, I want to say thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the great work that you have done and for the service and for the sacrifice that you have made. (Applause)

In thanking our veterans, words alone are not enough. As John F. Kennedy said, "The highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." And that is what brings us here today to this great celebration of opening up the sixth veterans home.

And it's about time. One of our greatest obligations to our veterans is making sure that each and every one has a roof over their head and a place that they can call home. Tragically, we know that is not always the case. In California we have tens of thousands of homeless veterans and across the nation there are more than 100,000 homeless veterans. That is a mark of shame upon our great state and nation and a terrible wrong that must be made right.

Here in California nearly two decades ago -- (Applause) Here in California, nearly two decades ago, Governor Wilson identified five sites for new veterans homes. But for years and years and years nothing happened and homes kept getting held up in red tape and meanwhile, more and more veterans were suffering on the streets. It was unacceptable.

And this is why, when I came into office, I appointed Tom Johnson. But not just as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs but also to be the point person to get those homes built. I said to him, "Besides all of the work that you're going to do and all the challenges you're going to face, get those homes built. That is our number one priority." And he, along with Secretary Brautigan, has done a fantastic job. Let's give them a big hand. (Applause)

And there were so many other people, of course, that worked very hard alongside. My brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, who is a big believer and passionate about the issue of homeless veterans, has fought and fought and pushed and pushed. And many others here on this stage have worked together. We cut through the red tape, we secured funding and we formed great partnerships, as you have heard earlier from the secretary, with the federal government, which is so important.

And I'm proud that just in the last few years we have opened up new homes in Ventura and in Lancaster. Today we are here dedicating the West Los Angeles home and opening up this facility and just last month we broke ground on homes in Fresno and in Redding. So there is action -- there is action, action, action. (Applause)

In fact, I'm proud to say that we have invested more in veterans homes than any other administration in the history of California. (Applause)

Now, here in West Los Angeles at this facility, nearly 400 veterans will live and be served. It will have state-of-the-art medical care, dental care, great food and a fantastic recreational facility and opportunities. We even will have here exercise equipment so the veterans can pump up their deltoids and their pectoral muscles and be the most muscular veterans. (Applause) Our veterans have answered the call and served us and this place here is the place where we can serve them.

Now, these homes are just one component. We have to do much more. We have obligations, many obligations to our veterans and that's why we have created some great action in other areas.

* A few weeks ago, for instance, we launched Operation Welcome Home to help returning veterans transition to civilian life. (Applause)
* I also signed legislation establishing Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. (Applause)
* And we fought to expand the CalVet Home Loan Program to all veterans -- to all veterans. (Applause)
* And we created the Honor a Hero, Hire a Veteran Program.
* We approved terrific new education benefits for National Guard men and women.
* And we created a pioneering website, called Network of Care, to connect veterans with more social services.

So I'm very proud of the work that we have done on behalf of our military men and women. But there's much more than needs to be done and many more homes need to built.

Now, as you know, a few weeks ago we celebrated Memorial Day and later on this year we will celebrate Veterans' Day. Yet our goal really should be to make every day Veterans' Day -- every day should be Veterans' Day. (Applause)

Every day we should honor the courageous men and women who have sacrificed so much for our nation. Duty called upon them to defend our freedom. My message to all of you today is that our duty as leaders should not and will not stop at the end of the parade line. Everyone that risks their life for America, we will stand behind them 100 percent -- 100 percent. (Applause)

And I promise that we will do everything in our power to make sure that all of our veterans, young and old, are treated with the respect and the dignity that they have earned because, like I said, they are responsible that we live in the greatest country in the world.

Thank you very much and God bless America. Thank you. (Applause)

Source