Dear Friend,

For many, Memorial Day marks the start of summer. While we treat the holiday as an opportunity to spend time outdoors, Memorial Day is meant to be a time for remembrance and reflection. 

This weekend, we took time to honor the men and women who served this great nation but never made it home. So many have paid the ultimate price, so it is important that we give thanks to those who have sacrificed for our country.

Yesterday and every day, I hope everyone can find ways to recognize these brave men and women beyond the memorial holiday. I will continue to pray for our brave troops and their families who continue to make sacrifices in defense of our freedoms.

Continue reading to see how we honored our fallen this weekend…

Honoring and Remembering Our Fallen Soldiers

On Monday, I attended a Memorial Day event at the Veterans Memorial Park of Blaine. This event honored the millions of Americans who perished in service to our country.

I was grateful to have the opportunity to meet and thank Steve Guider, who worked tirelessly to help install the memorial in Veterans Memorial Park. Throughout the entire park, his effort and hard work are evident. People like Steve truly are what makes this country so special. His commitment to honoring those lost will leave an impression on all who witness Veterans Memorial Park in Blaine.

I also joined Tom Lyons and Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Larry Herke on Minnesota Military Radio. I’m fortunate to have joined Tom on this important Memorial Day program many times before to talk about our work to support the men and women (and their families) who are dedicated in service to this great nation.

During our conversation, Commissioner Herke and I discussed our continued partnership to end veteran homelessness. As usual, Minnesota is leading the way in addressing this problem with the creation of the nation’s first statewide registry of homeless veterans.

This effort has helped over 1,700 homeless veterans find housing since the state created the real-time registry. To date, the number of homeless vets has declined by 53 percent since 2010! State officials are now predicting Minnesota may become the fourth state in the union to virtually eradicate homelessness among veterans. 

Serving in Congress is especially exciting when we are able to bring Minnesota-tested solutions to the federal level. That’s why I joined my fellow Members of the Minnesota Congressional Delegation to ask the Veterans Administration to consider Minnesota's state-based approach to tackling veterans' homelessness when addressing nationwide homelessness among veterans. 

You can listen to my conversation with Tom Lyons and Commissioner Herke, here, and I’ll continue looking for ways to bring Minnesota solutions to Washington.

Until next week, if you are in need of assistance or would like to share your thoughts with me, please write me an e-mail here.

To keep up with what we’re doing in Washington, follow me on Twitter and Facebook for more updates!

Sincerely,