Heitkamp: U.S. Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Bipartisan "Gold Star Families Voices Act' to Better Honor Fallen Heroes

Press Release

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today voted with a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate to pass the Gold Star Families Voices Act, a bill that will help our country better honor servicemembers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The bill, which already passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, will allow the families of servicemembers who were killed or missing in action to contribute to the Library of Congress' Veterans' Oral History Project. Right now, only living veterans can provide testimonials and biographical information for this project.

"Paying respect to our fallen heroes and their families is one of our most important obligations," said Heitkamp. "Giving these families an opportunity to tell the stories of the loved ones who never came home will help guarantee we remember and pay tribute to their sacrifice for years to come. We owe so much to these servicemembers, and to these Gold Star families who have also sacrificed so much."

Heitkamp is a strong advocate for veterans, servicemembers, fallen heroes, and their families. Earlier this month, Heitkamp met with the families of North Dakota servicemembers in Minot to thank them for their service during November's "Military Family Appreciation Month." During her visit, Heitkamp reinforced that the families of servicemembers make sacrifices every day that support our men and women in uniform. Heitkamp also spoke with families about ways to strengthen defense communities and support military families.

Heitkamp has long worked to honor North Dakota's fallen servicemembers. Beginning in 2014, Heitkamp collaborated with more than 150 eleventh-graders from Bismarck High School to gather information on fallen North Dakotans, incorporating their research into a series of 15 speeches she gave on the floor on the U.S. Senate from March through August 2015.

In November 2015, Heitkamp met with some of the students to help lay more than 30 artifacts the students made to honor North Dakotans who died in Vietnam beneath the servicemembers' names on the wall of the Memorial.

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