JAMESTOWN, N.D. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today announced that she introduced legislation to better connect our nation’s new veterans with the services, resources, and benefits that are available in their communities.

After hearing from too many veterans about the challenges they face in getting access to needed services and benefits, such as employment or education assistance or access to health care, Heitkamp’s Connect with Veterans Act would help resolve many of these issues. Specifically, the bill would create a database of contact information for newly-separated veterans to allow local communities, as well as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and State Departments of Veterans Affairs, to better connect with veterans and provide them with information about services and other resources. Heitkamp believes this program is critical because there is currently no mechanism for local governments to directly interact with transitioning servicemembers, veterans, and their families who live there or plan to relocate there and help them get access to many needed supports.

“Since traveling the state to meet with North Dakota veterans last summer and more recently hosting my Native American Veterans Summit in Bismarck, it’s clear that veterans are looking for more information, and an effort to better connect them with their communities is a way to do just that,” said Heitkamp. “We have a moral responsibility to do better for our veterans, and I’m confident this initiative is a much-needed step in the right direction. It will help ease the transition back to civilian life for many new veterans, establishing a way for them to connect with job opportunities in their new communities, other veterans, and additional resources and benefits. It’s not just up to the VA to help veterans – all of us need to play a role, and my initiative will better enable us to honor our collective responsibility to help those who have protected us.”

Heitkamp’s bill would create a database to:

• Help towns, cities, and counties in North Dakota, and across the country, interact more with new veterans moving to these communities;
• Make it easier for communities to contact veterans with specific information in towns, such as the hours health care facilities are open, or if the community has an unique family support program; and
• Help companies that are specifically looking to hire veterans find those employees, while helping veterans find good jobs.

Participation in the program is completely voluntary and a veterans’ contact information would only be shared with his or her permission. Veterans’ personal information will be kept safe and secure. For a one-page summary of the bill, click here. For reactions to the bill from community leaders and organizations working to assist veterans, click here.

Today, Heitkamp will meet with Jamestown-area veterans at the Knights of Columbus to discuss her new legislation as well as bipartisan veterans legislation the Senate just passed last week. The new bill works to restore trust in the VA and launches a nationwide Veterans Choice Card to improve access to care for rural veterans – an initiative Heitkamp has called for since before she joined the Senate. Heitkamp will also present an American flag to World War II veteran Ernie Hubacker, honoring him for both his distinguished military service and volunteer efforts in the Jamestown community.

Since joining the Senate, Heitkamp has fought to stand up for veterans in North Dakota and throughout the country. Last July, Heitkamp completed a statewide listening tour to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing veterans, holding meetings and discussions in Minot, Bismarck, Devils Lake, Grand Forks, and Fargo. Last month, Heitkamp hosted her first Native American Veterans Summit in Bismarck. She brought together about 140 Native veterans, officials from the VA and Indian Health Service (IHS), and other advocates to give veterans a chance to be heard. It was also an opportunity for Native veterans to learn more about ongoing initiatives to connect them with services and benefits.

Throughout her discussions with veterans and work with the Senate Defense Communities Caucus, Heitkamp often heard from veterans about a desire to learn more about services and resources, and communities looking to help veterans. The Connect with Veterans Act is a direct result of that work, and it follows another recent initiative to get more information to veterans. Last week, she launched a new one-stop-shop webpage for Native American veterans, aiming to more easily connect these veterans with information about benefits and services available to them.

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