BISMARCK, N.D. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today participated in three Memorial Day ceremonies in the Bismarck area to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, veterans, servicemembers, and their families.

“With one of the highest rates of military service in the country, North Dakotans have never shied away from defending our country,” said Heitkamp. “On Memorial Day – and every day – it’s important we pause and reflect on the tremendous debt of gratitude we owe to those who gave their lives to keep our nation safe and free, as well as to their loving and supportive families. Our commitment and responsibility to veterans is needed year round – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – because for our servicemembers, veterans, and their families, their service and sacrifice is never ending, and impacts them every day.”

Heitkamp honored fallen and active servicemembers, veterans, and their families at the Disabled American Veterans Memorial Day Ceremony, North Dakota National Guard Veterans Cemetery Memorial Day Event, and the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Day Service in Bismarck and Mandan.

Since joining the Senate, Heitkamp has been a staunch advocate for veterans, servicemembers and their families. She is co-chair of the Senate Defense Communities Caucus, which focuses on developing initiatives and sharing ideas to improve public-private partnerships between military bases and their surrounding communities.

Heitkamp is a strong supporter of comprehensive legislation – introduced by Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Bernie Sanders – that takes many important steps to provide veterans with benefits and care. It streamlines and improves the VA claims system, expands access to education benefits, and improves access to health care. While she voted for this bill, it failed to move forward in the Senate. She will continue to work with Chairman Sanders and others to fight to pass it. She is also supportive of legislation to end the disability claims backlog, expand caregiver benefits to the caregivers of veterans from all eras, and expand veterans’ health care access.

In June 2013, the Senate unanimously passed a Heitkamp-introduced resolution to raise awareness about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The resolution called on the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to further educate servicemembers, veterans, the families of servicemembers and veterans, and the public about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of PTSD. Heitkamp will introduce an updated PTSD resolution this June.

Last year, Heitkamp completed a statewide listening tour to discuss the issues affecting our veterans after hosting meetings and roundtable discussions in Minot, Bismarck, Devils Lake, Grand Forks, and Fargo. On June 14, she will be hosting a statewide Native American Veterans Summit in Bismarck.

Heitkamp has also continued to stand up for North Dakota’s active servicemembers, specifically working to protect the state’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) infrastructure at Minot Air Force Base and discussing the need for the Global Hawk mission at Grand Forks Air Force Base with senior U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) leaders. After Heitkamp and members of the Senate ICBM Coalition pressed DOD to retain missile silos, Heitkamp announced last month that the Pentagon heeded their concerns and preserved all of the nation’s missile silos in the military’s new strategic force structure under the New START Treaty with Russia.

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