Heinrich, Luján and Vasquez honored veterans Wednesday, with Vasquez highlighting proposals addressing health care, food assistance and education.

Organ Mountain News report

WASHINGTON - New Mexico’s U.S. senators and Rep. Gabe Vasquez marked Veterans Day on Wednesday with calls to honor military service by ensuring veterans and their families receive the care, benefits and support they have earned.

In separate statements issued Nov. 11, Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján emphasized the country’s obligations to veterans. Vasquez, whose 2nd Congressional District includes Las Cruces and much of southern New Mexico, highlighted legislation addressing health care access, food assistance, disability compensation and education expenses.

Heinrich and Luján emphasize commitments to veterans

Heinrich offered his gratitude to what he described as New Mexico’s 148,000 veterans, recognizing the costs of service, including time away from home and lasting injuries.

“What we can do is keep the promise this country made to our veterans by delivering the care and benefits they earned through their service,” Heinrich said.

He called for protecting access to health care, good-paying jobs and education, along with preserving the stories of New Mexican veterans. He cited the Navajo Code Talkers, those who survived or died during the Bataan Death March and veterans of the Vietnam War, Korean War and Global War on Terror.

Luján likewise emphasized New Mexico’s history of military service and the need to support veterans when they return home.

“We must uphold our obligation to ensure veterans and their families receive the resources, care, and support they have earned when returning home,” Luján said.

Vasquez highlights proposals for southern New Mexico

Vasquez said Congress should translate its gratitude into legislation that improves veterans’ lives.

“The best way Congress can honor and thank America’s veterans is by passing solutions to improve their quality of life,” he said.

Among the proposals his office highlighted were the Socorro Vet Center Act, which would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a center offering free, confidential social and psychological support, and the New Mexico Rural Veteran Health Care Access Act, intended to help veterans in Otero and Eddy counties obtain care closer to home.

His office also pointed to the Feed Our Veterans Act, which seeks to address veterans’ food insecurity and reverse new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program work requirements affecting veterans, and the Major Richard Star Act, which would allow eligible combat-injured veterans to receive both full military retirement pay and VA disability compensation.

Another proposal, the Veteran Education Assistance Adjustment Act, would raise the annual book and supply stipend for student veterans from $1,000 to $1,400 and provide inflation adjustments. According to Vasquez’s office, the stipend has not been updated since 2008.

The measures were presented in his statement as legislative proposals, rather than newly enacted benefits.