Senator Murkowski gets a hug from a thankful Veteran Senator Murkowski thanks Sgt Tyler Hall from Wasilla for his service

Veterans
Our veterans exemplify a tradition of service, dedication, and valor that we uphold as Alaskans. With nearly 65,000 such men and women, we have a special responsibility for serving the needs of our military veterans. Having served as the former chairman of the Alaska State Legislature's Military and Veterans Affairs committee, I have experienced first hand the issues facing our veterans. Now as part of the United States Senate I am committed to continuing and improving support for programs to assist our numerous veterans and their families.

During the 2003-2004 Congress, I assisted in winning approval for the single largest increase in funding for veterans health care. This raised federal funding by $1.7 billion—a total allotment of $27.5 billion for health care.

In 2004 for the first time, I won the state the right to receive federal per diem payments. These payments will assist in paying for the care of the almost 100 veterans living in the our state's Pioneers Homes. This much-needed aid will help provide long-term care for more veterans and seniors. I have also begun the process to completely repeal concurrent receipts regulations. This ongoing problem has caused a number of our disabled veterans to experience a reduction in their disability payments when they start to receive their military retirement benefits. The compromise I helped to facilitate will allow veterans eligible for Combat-Related Special Compensation to keep their disability pay and retirement pay without any offset.

And I'm happy that Anchorage will host the 2006 national Veterans Wheelchair Games July 2-8. This event will bring hundreds of veterans to Alaska for competition and serve as a way to pay tribute for their service.

While we have already made some important gains, I continue to seek out and support new legislation that could further improve the lives of our veterans. We can and we must do more for those who have given for us.

Veterans Alert
As you may be aware, on May 3rd, the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of every living veteran from 1975 to the present—more than 26.5 million U.S. veterans in all—were stolen by thieves who took a laptop computer containing the data from the home of a Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) employee. All 26.5 million veterans whose data was stolen may now be at risk of identity theft. If you are a veteran and are concerned that your identity may have been compromised, I encourage you to visit the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ website www.va.gov to get more information on measures you can take to protect yourself.