FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 Thursday, January 24, 2008

Contact: Senator Jack Barnes

(603) 271-6931

SENATE ASKS CONGRESS TO RESTORE SERVICES FOR N.H. VETERANS

CONCORD – The Senate is drafting letters to members of the New Hampshire congressional delegation following a unanimous Senate vote this week on two resolutions calling for federal action to benefit veterans.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 7 calls for the U.S. Department of Defense and Congress to restore full services to the Manchester Veterans Administration Medical Center.

"New Hampshire is the only state that doesn't have a full service Veterans Administration Medical Center and this is unacceptable. It’s been far too long -- our veterans have to go to Massachusetts or Vermont for procedures and those trips are 8-10 hours long. New Hampshire veterans should have the services here,” said Senator Jack Barnes (R-Raymond), prime sponsor of SCR 7 and SCR 8.

“We have a growing number of returning veterans and aging veterans with special medical needs – as do our neighboring states. The VA medical centers in Massachusetts and Vermont cannot continue to absorb all of our people. New Hampshire needs and deserves its own full-service health care center to serve our veterans,” said Senator Kathleen Sgambati (D-Tilton).

Senate Concurrent Resolution 8 urges the federal Department of Defense to restore the designations of “Prisoner of War” and “Missing in Action” to servicemen and servicewomen missing or captured in operations in Afghanistan or Iraq.

“With passage of this resolution the designation of POW-MIA can be a concrete symbol that we support all who have served this great nation,” said Senator Joseph Kenney (R-Union), who has served in the Marine reserves in Iraq.

“This is a duty of honor we owe to the people who have served us,” said Senator Peter Burling, D-Cornish.

Barnes also urged New Hampshire’s roughly 120,000 veterans to contact their congressional delegation to show their support for these resolutions.