Honoring Our Veterans this May

With Memorial Day right around the corner, this month Rep. Slotkin’s office will be celebrating our service members, veterans, and their families who make so many sacrifices on behalf of our nation. We wanted to highlight two special events from last week that reflect our commitment to our men and women in uniform.

Last Thursday in Howell, our office held one of Rep. Slotkin’s favorite events of the year: a night to honor the extraordinary young men and women from the district who will be attending one of our nation’s Service Academies.

Nominating students to attend these institutions is a great responsibility, and this year Rep. Slotkin was thrilled to announce that nine students from our district received nominations and acceptances.

Of the nine students, six will be attending the United States Air Force Academy, two will be attending the United States Naval Academy, and one will be attending the United States Military Academy, where they will all soon receive an outstanding education and valuable training that will prepare them for almost anything they want to do in life.

This impressive group represents a new generation of leaders, one that will chart a new course for our country with character and purpose. We are so proud of each one of them, and wish them all the best as they begin this exciting new chapter in their lives.

8 of the 9 students who will attend service academies in the fall.

The selection process for the Class of 2024 opens in June, and applications will be accepted through mid-October. You can get more information here or by contacting my staffer who coordinates the process at [email protected].gov.

On Friday in East Lansing, the Congresswoman hosted a town hall for veterans from across the district to discuss the Honoring Our PACT Act, which expands VA health benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances.

This law also expands and extends eligibility for VA health care for veterans of the Vietnam era, Gulf War era, and post-9/11 era, making it one of the largest health and benefit expansions in American history.

More than 100 veterans, family members, and caregivers came out to join Rep. Slotkin and John Boerstler, the Chief Experience Officer from the VA, to hear more about this landmark legislation, which was signed into law last summer.

The Congresswoman wrote and introduced one of the component bills for this law, the Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act, which cut through red tape to make it easier for toxic exposed veterans to obtain specialized care and benefits.

In less than a year since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, more than three million veterans have received toxic exposure screenings. In addition to answering questions at the town hall, there were health and benefits counselors on site to help veterans file claims on the spot, as well as the VA’s Mobile Vet Center.

But we still have work to do and the clock is ticking: in order to receive full benefits backdated to when the bill became law last summer, veterans need to file for benefits before August 10, 2023.

You can find out more HERE or by calling the VA at 800-698-2411. You can also reach out to our office at (517) 993-0510 or by emailing Gina Shireman, our Director of Constituent Services and lead VA caseworker at [email protected].

We owe it to those who step up to serve our nation to take care of them when they return. Stay tuned for more actions to support service members, veterans and their families throughout May.

– Office of Rep. Elissa Slotkin