Gregorio Sablan: “My amendment No. 606, which is included in En Bloc 5, creates a VA advisory committee for veterans living in the U.S.…”

“My amendment No. 606, which is included in En Bloc 5, creates a VA advisory committee for veterans living in the U.S. insular areas and in the Freely Associated States. Veterans in my district, especially, and in the other insular areas, too, face barriers to VA services no vet should be forced to endure. My amendment creates a Department of Veterans Affairs advisory committee representing veterans living in the U.S. insular areas of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as the Freely Associated States of Palau, Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. In my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, there are no VA clinics and no Vet Centers. Veterans there sometimes fly 3,700 miles to Hawai'i or over 6,000 miles to California to access VA services. Even reaching VA services in nearby Guam is a challenge. That is why my amendment, establishing a committee to educate the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on the obstacles insular area veterans face, is so important. Each U.S. insular area and each of the three Freely Associated States would have a seat on the advisory committee. They would be able to describe the barriers their veterans face in receiving VA services. Establishing an advisory committee will not solve every logistical problem for veterans who live in geographically remote areas of America.…”