Cliff Stearns: “I am glad to hear the Veterans Administration cemetery expansion is a top priority for the President next year. Florida…”

“I am glad to hear the Veterans Administration cemetery expansion is a top priority for the President next year. Florida has our Nation's second largest veterans' population in the United States and one of its oldest. In fact, it is number one. Nearly 325,000 veterans call home somewhere in the Jacksonville City vicinity, and this is the location of 3 congressional districts, mine, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Brown) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw), as well as in nearby southern Georgia. Yet the closest VA cemetery is at least a 3-hour drive from Jacksonville. The next closest in proximity lies in Marietta, Georgia, which is just north of Atlanta. A new national VA cemetery in the metropolitan Jacksonville area or nearby Clay County would answer the unmet need for north Floridians and southern Georgians. My colleagues may ask why should I support a cemetery in Florida. Well, from Michigan and New York, the Midwest and elsewhere, there is a high likelihood that their constituents are contemplating retiring in north Florida. We welcome them and I hope my colleagues will sign on to my bill H.R. 1205. We welcome your veteran constituents to call north Florida home. I hope you will consider cosponsoring my bill, H.R. 1205, and help us to provide the dignified, hallowed grounds our veterans deserve.”