Political Quotes

“The purpose of this amendment is to equally increase and decease funding by $1 to address an issue for many of our guardsmen, reservists, and their families. A number of these men and women, these guardsmen and reservists, who dutifully serve our country for many years are never called into active duty. Under current law they are ineligible to receive a government memorial headstone or marker for their grave site. This issue came to my attention in our own home district in New York when I heard from Mr. Charles Ricotta, who is a constituent of ours. He lost his son Joe to a heart attack. It was Joe's 47th birthday, and he had served in the Navy Reserve from 1997 to 2007. And despite his 10 years of service in the Reserves, he was not eligible to receive a government headstone or marker honoring his service. Mr. Charles Ricotta, Joe's father, isn't looking for a handout. He's not looking for payments for any other burial services. He simply would like to purchase, at his own expense, a foot marker from the VA for his son's grave site to recognize Joe's service to our country. So there is a piece of legislation that I've introduced, H.R. 2305, the Memorialize Our Guardsmen and Reservists Act, and that would correct this inequity by making available for purchase, through the Department of Veterans Affairs, headstones or markers for members of the Reserve components who did not serve on active duty. A government memorial may cost less than other headstones.…”