Letter to Richard Wightman, Acting Principle Deputy Assistant - Beyond Yellow Ribbon Program

Letter

February 9, 2015

The Honorable Richard O. Wightman, Jr.

Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Reserve Affairs

1000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, D.C. 20301-1000

Dear Acting Secretary Wightman:

Thank you for your office's support for the National Guard and Reserve outreach and reintegration programs. As the Department implements the fiscal year 2015 defense budget, we would like to draw your attention to the Beyond Yellow Ribbon programs and request that the Department utilize the full $15 million appropriated by Congress to fund existing programs with strong records of success.

As you have seen first-hand when you have visited state programs, Beyond Yellow Ribbon programs provide community-based outreach services that coordinate state and local resources into a single network to offer critical support to service members before, during, and after deployments. These services include health care, marriage and financial counseling, substance abuse treatment, mental health, suicide prevention, employment services, educational assistance, military sexual assault referrals and other related services. For several years, these programs have helped thousands of service members, veterans and their family members cope with the challenges associated with deployments and military service.

We look forward to working with you to continue to support these programs and again ask that you do so by ensuring they receive the full $15 million that Congress appropriated with that intention. Thank you for your commitment to National Guard and Reserve service members and their families.

Sincerely,

Jeanne Shaheen Patrick J. Leahy

United States Senator United States Senator

Kelly A. Ayotte Bernard Sanders

United States Senator United States Senator