Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8) met Saturday (August 24th) with his Veterans Advisory Committee to report on recent veterans' legislation, upcoming veterans' issues, and outreach efforts in the veterans' community during the August Work Period.
"My Veterans Advisory Committee, chaired by Col. Larry Rubini, plays an important role in my ability to both keep up with the needs of veterans in the district, as well as to get information back to them," explained Fitzpatrick. "This August Work Period has been busy, but before heading back to the nation's capital it was vital to explain to my committee what was happening in Washington and what's on the mind of veterans here at home."
Fitzpatrick's Veterans Advisory Committee was started in 2011, at the beginning of his second term in office. Fitzpatrick has been an advocate for veterans' issues while in office, advancing critical legislation for current and former military members.
"One of the most important items I wanted to bring the committee up to speed on was the introduction of my bipartisan Fairness to Veterans for Infrastructure Investment Act [HR 2906] which was entered into the House just before the Work Period," said Fitzpatrick. "This simple piece of legislation makes it clear veterans should have the same access to the billions of dollars in federal infrastructure contracts as other groups. As one of the most highly skilled workforces in history; we need to use their talents to put our country back on the right track."
Fitzpatrick- a member of both the Veterans Jobs and Military Mental Health caucuses- also discussed his efforts to shine a light on the inefficiency of the Philadelphia VA, the passage of his amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included restoring military tuition assistance, his co-sponsorship of the Military Reserve Jobs Act [HR 2785] and updates on the operations of the Washington Crossing National Cemetery.