June 08, 2021 by Staff Report
SARATOGA | U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R) helped introduce new legislation to permanently reauthorize the Highly Rural Veteran Transportation Program within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
On June 8, Stefanik joined U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), dean of the House and U.S. Army Veteran, and U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-New Hampshire), chair of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, to make the program permanent.
Under current law, the program must be reauthorized by Congress every two years in order to allow state Veterans Service Agencies and Veteran Service Organizations to provide no-cost transportation to VA or VA-authorized health care facilities to veterans in highly rural areas, including upstate New York.
“As the proud home to Fort Drum, the Navy’s Kesselring Site, the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base, and more veterans and retirees than any other Congressional District in New York State, critical, high-quality care for our veterans is of the utmost importance and much needed,” Stefanik said in announcing the measure.
“This bill will ensure the Highly Rural Veterans Transportation Grant Program is permanently funded so veterans in the North Country and rural areas across America continue to receive the care they both need and deserve.”
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