FOX 28 - Rep. Jackie Walorski Talks Veteran Issues and What's Next on Agenda

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By Mario Gonzalez

Indiana is home to more than 500,000 military veterans. The Michiana community is dedicated to showing their appreciation to these men and women any way they can. The latest was the 5K Sweat for Vets.

Runners battled the cold on the IUSB campus. The run aimed to raise money for the St. Joseph County Habitat for Humanity 2015 Veteran Build. The project will build new homes for veterans to move into.

"It helps build somebody back up. And I think that's the most important thing for the community and not only for the veteran as a whole, it really helps them and their families," Army veteran Andy Dytrych said.

Dytrych served eight years in the Army. He is one of the 50,000 plus veterans living in Indiana's second district.

U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski was on hand for the event and spoke about the importance of serving veterans. "We know that we owe them a debt of gratitude, and there's no way to really say thank you," Walorski said.

Walorski says one way she tries to do that is with legislation. One of her proposals is to protect veterans' identities after a website containing their information was hacked last year. "That's an atrocity," Walorski said. "In 2014 with the protection that we can offer with software with our web servers, things like that, it just shouldn't happen."

Coming off of her re-election on Tuesday night, Walorski will be in Washington on Wednesday. "I think the first issues we're going to handle as soon as session reopens is going to be tax reform," Walorski said. "And we're going to be talking probably from the time we get back on Armed Services Committee on the issue of national security. Keeping our nation safe and our interests safe in the battle to destroy ISIL."

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg laced up his shoes for the run. Buttigieg is a veteran himself and showed his support for his fellow service men and women.

"It's great to have these politicians fighting for veterans and it's really become a prominent issue in our society and it's just great to see them empowering vets and allowing them to have the opportunities that they currently do," Dytrych said.

The run aimed to raise $8,000 to build a new home for a local veteran. The St. Joseph County Habitat for Humanity will know the exact amount raised on Tuesday.

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