Octo

ober 15, 2012

2
orable Bernie
e Sanders
The Hono
United Sttates Senator
332 Dirks
sen Senate Office
O
Building
Washingtton, DC 2051
10
nator Sanders
s:
Dear Sen
As
A National Commander
C
of
o the Disable
ed American Veterans (D
DAV), I am ple
eased to info
orm
you that you
y have bee
en chosen to
o receive a DA
AV Congresssional Leade
ership Award in recognitio
on of
the stead
dfast support and tireless efforts show
wn throughoutt your careerr to strengthe
en veterans
programs
s and enact new
n
legislatio
on to empowe
er all of Ame
ericas injured
d heroes to le
ead high-qua
ality
lives with respect and dignity.
After
A
being ele
ected to the House
H
of Representative s in 1990, yo
ou quickly esstablished yourself
as a reliable supporte
er of veterans
s, voting cons
sistently to in
ncrease funding for vetera
ans health ca
are
efits programs
s. Many of the very first bills you spo nsored were
e to strengthe
en veterans
and bene
benefits, including leg
gislation to en
nd the disable
ed veterans tax and to re
ecognize servvice connection
ge exposure and numerou
us associate
ed illnesses. Now serving
g in the Sena
ate as
between Agent Orang
er of both the Veterans Affairs
A
and Bu
udget Commiittees, you ha
ave been a sstaunch advo
ocate
a Membe
for makin
ng veterans fu
unding a natiional priority.. Your perso
onal efforts le
ed to important increases in
funding fo
or Post-Traum
matic Stress Disorder (PT
TSD) treatme
ent, Gulf War Illness rese
earch and
adaptive housing gran
nts for seriou
usly disabled veterans. Ju
ust this year,, you sponso
ored legislatio
on
w significan
ntly strengthe
en the Specia
ally Adapted Housing and
d Special Ho
ome
enacted into law that will
on programs for disabled veterans who need modiifications to ttheir homes, or to a familyy
Adaptatio
members
s home wherre they are cu
urrently resid
ding.
As
A an original cosponsor of
o the Veterans Health Ca
are Budget R
Reform and T
Transparencyy Act,
you playe
ed a key role in helping to
o enact advan
nce appropri ations for ve
eterans health
h care, and yyou
have consistently foug
ght to supporrt the funding
g targets esta
ablished by T
The Independ
dent Budget,,
AV co-authors
s. Even during the most difficult fisca
al and budgettary times, yo
ou consistently
which DA
champion
n veterans in
nterests as ev
videnced by amendmentss you offered
d to end the rrounding dow
wn
Cost of Living Adjustm
ment (COLA)) increases fo
or disability ccompensation
n and provide
e $250 checkks to
v
as part of the ec
conomic stim
mulus packag
ges.
disabled veterans
When
W
veteran
ns have need
ded your support, you havve always sto
ood up for them. On beh
half of
the 1.2 million
m
membe
ers of DAV, I look forward
d to presentin
ng you with a custom-made DAV base
eball
bat as ou
ur way of than
nking you forr going to batt for veteranss.
Sincerely,
S

LARR
RY A. POLZI N
National Command
der