FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 28, 1995
CONTACT: Dana Hagerty (202) 225-2165
MOORHEAD -- Congressman Collin C. Peterson (DFL-7th District) and Congressman Sonny Montgomery (D-MS), Ranking Minority Member on the Veterans Affairs Committee, addressed more than 100 veterans today at a Veterans Forum in Moorhead.
"The most important news 7th District veterans have received this year is the new veterans nursing home that will be built in Fergus Falls," Congressman Peterson said during his opening remarks. "A long term care facility in Fergus Falls to serve those men and women who have served our country is long overdue. This new home will make it possible for veterans in Northwestern Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota to live near the communities they fought to preserve."
In his opening remarks, Congressman Montgomery focused on the issue of respect. "Over 50 percent of Americans today were born after World War II, and many of them don't understand that freedom itself was at stake in that war. We must do all we can to give veterans the respect and honor they so richly deserve."
Montgomery told the veterans that because of cutbacks on veterans hospital construction, he would like to see more money going to outpatient clinics. He also would like to see faster claim processing by the Veterans Administration.
"Right now, it takes more than a year for a veteran to get his claim processed," Montgomery said. "I don't see any reason why we can't get that down to under a year."