Veterans And Military Families

As the proud home to Fort Drum and the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base, the North Country understands the special pride, tradition, and history of the United States Military. Congresswoman Stefanik is honored to represent tens thousands of constituents who have honorably served our country, and she has worked diligently to deliver more than $4M in VA benefits to North Country veterans. She is proudly a regular participant at North Country Honor Flight ceremonies, and her office is well known as one of the most effective Congressional offices for helping selfless veterans claim their well-deserved VA benefits.

Congresswoman Stefanik has helped pass meaningful reforms to the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure veterans receive the benefits they need and deserve, including the Wingman Act, which eliminates burdensome red tape at the VA, and the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to protect veterans that speak out about the injustices and unacceptable care they have experienced. She also helped pass legislation that allows the VA to provide financial assistance for support services to low-income families and cosponsored a letter creating a pilot program to expand therapy services for veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury and/or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Congresswoman Stefanik has championed many pieces of legislation to expand mental health services, analyze and boost our current suicide prevention resources, increase compensation for disabled veterans and survivors of disabled veterans, and empower veterans with economic opportunities in their civilian lives. Notably, she helped pass the Protecting Veterans Health Act and the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act which expands benefits for veterans suffering diseases they developed during their service.

Congresswoman Stefanik is known to take swift action to address quality of life issues affecting North Country veterans. Recently, she sent a letter to the Acting Under Secretary for Health identifying unacceptable service unavailability and backlogs with beneficiary travel pay, and another to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs requesting they increase the use of community pharmacies for non-active duty service members and veterans using TRICARE.

Congresswoman Stefanik has delivered many innovative solutions to address the unique challenges that military families face, ensuring they have adequate access to health care and counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, and other service-related ailments, employment opportunities and job-training, post-service career and transition resources. She helped pass the Military Residency Choice Act to allow military spouses to establish the same state of residency as their servicemember for voting and tax purposes, and introduced the Military Family Stability Act to provide military families with the flexibility they need to make a successful transition to their new jobs, schools, and communities. Congresswoman Stefanik also cosponsored the Jobs and Childcare for Military Families Act, bipartisan legislation to incentivize the hiring of veterans and military spouses in local communities.

Congresswoman Stefanik is a member of the Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus, Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus, Military Families Caucus, and the Veterans Jobs Caucus.