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Garamendi Hosts District Work Day With Local Veterans and Manufacturers

August 21, 2019

Marysville, CA—Today, Congressman John Garamendi (D—Yuba City), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness, held a district work day to address hundreds of local veterans and veteran service providers at the Yuba-Sutter Stand Down for low income and homeless veterans. Garamendi, a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also toured the U.S. Pipe Fabrication manufacturing facility in Olivehurst to bolster his Make It In America platform as Congress continues to develop a significant transportation and infrastructure package.

At the Yuba-Sutter Stand Down, Garamendi said, "I represent over 50,000 veterans in Congress. Providing them with the tools to succeed once they return to civilian life is one of my top priorities in Washington. Those willing to risk everything in service to our nation deserve every possible opportunity to succeed and thrive when they return home. Thank you to the veterans in attendance for your service to our nation, and to the service providers that are providing critical services for the local veteran community."

"My office has secured over $ 5 million in backlogged benefits for service members, and my team of caseworkers is always standing by to help," Garamendi continued. "We are focused on helping veterans find employment, ensuring that mental health issues are tackled head on, and making sure that veterans get every penny owed to them. I know we can't do it alone. Every year, when I see the great work that's done at the Yuba-Sutter Stand Down, I leave with hope, and an even greater determination to make America work for all veterans," Garamendi concluded.

Congressman Garamendi's Commitment to Veterans

Ensuring veterans receive the support and resources they've earned is a cornerstone of Garamendi's work in Congress. Garamendi has consistently voted for legislation to improve veteran welfare and care, including efforts to reduce the VA claims backlog, expanding health care services for veterans, and extending benefits to caregivers of veterans to help keep veterans in their homes.

This year, Garamendi has introduced several pieces of legislation to support veterans and secured significant benefits for the local veteran community. Those efforts are highlighted below:

  • Combatting Veteran Homelessness
    • Garamendi worked with Habitat for Humanity to establish a financing mechanism that utilizes existing funding to build new veteran housing units throughout the 3rd District. As a direct result of this work, Habitat for Humanity will be unveiling a 2,500-square-foot, 6-bedroom, 3-bath home in Dixon for low income veterans on Saturday, August 24th.
  • Helping Veterans Address the VA Backlog
    • To date, Garamendi's office has secured over $5 million in backlogged benefits for local veterans. Garamendi has a team of caseworkers standing by in each of his district offices to help constituents resolve issues with the VA and other federal agencies in a timely manner. Constituents can submit casework requests to Garamendi's office by visiting https://garamendi.house.gov/services.
  • Strengthening Veteran Health CareServices
    • This year, Garamendi introduced the OATH Act to help veterans and service members experiencing health issues resulting from toxic hazards they were exposed to during their service.
    • Currently, active duty members and veterans are unable to make disability claims with the Veterans Administration based on exposure to toxic hazards such as mold, chemicals, and open-air burn pits because those exposures are not tracked in their medical records. The OATH Act will change that and provide our nation's service members with the support they deserve.
    • The legislation was included in the House and Senate passed versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and is poised to become law this year.
  • Honoring Service and Sacrifice
    • Garamendi reintroduced the Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act this year to honor the Merchant Mariners that sustained U.S. forces while suffering the highest per capita casualty rate in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II.
    • An estimated 8,300 mariners lost their lives, and another 12,000 were wounded, to make sure our service members could keep fighting. Yet, these Mariners who put their lives on the line were not even given veteran status until 1988.
    • A Congressional Gold Medal is one of our nation's highest honors, and Garamendi introduced this legislation to give our nation's World War II veterans the recognition they deserve. The bill secured the necessary level of support from Garamendi's colleagues to receive a mandatory vote in the House, and the legislation is expected to pass the House in September.

Following his remarks at the Yuba-Sutter Stand Down, Garamendi toured the U.S. Pipe Fabrication facility in Olivehurst to inform his Make It In America agenda that will strengthen the U.S. manufacturing sector, grow the economy, and create hundreds of thousands of new middle-class jobs.

"As Congress continues to develop a significant transportation and infrastructure package, I'm working to ensure the final text supports efforts to grow the local manufacturing sector and create new good paying middle-class jobs," Garamendi said. "As a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I am spending my time in the district engaging leaders in the manufacturing community, like U.S. Pipe Fabrication."

"U.S. Pipe Fabrication is using American materials and workers to realize their vision of providing clean drinking water throughout our nation. Their work is critical, and I will continue to support their efforts to grow our economy and rebuild our nation's crumbling infrastructure with American materials and workers," Garamendi concluded.