Honoring New Jersey's Veterans

In 1991, the leaders of both parties in the New Jersey State Legislature designated May 7th as an annual New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day. On Saturday, I had the honor of recognizing the occasion at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdel.

Rep. Holt speaking at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdel.

This one-of-a-kind memorial for New Jersey's 200,000+ Vietnam veterans is one of our state's under-appreciated treasures. Thousands visit it every year. It is a reverent public space, and it serves as a critical repository of documents, artifacts, and testimony from our state's Vietnam veterans.

At Saturday's Remembrance Day Ceremony, officials also awarded state medals of honor to 76 New Jersey veterans for their service in a range of America's wars and overseas interventions: World War II, Vietnam, Lebanon, Desert Storm, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

To learn more about my work on veterans issues, click here.

The Death of Osama bin Laden

President Obama's announcement last week that U.S. military forces had killed Osama bin Laden brought to mind the deaths and injuries that resulted from bin Laden's vicious attacks on our embassies, ships, planes, and the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Our hearts once again go out to all the families affected.

The news was also a reminder that America's military and intelligence services remain the best in the world. Osama bin Laden's removal will not immediately end the threat of terrorism against the United States, but his death represents a crippling blow to the organization responsible for the 9/11 attacks. We all share President Obama's pride and satisfaction for the dedicated and brave members of our military and our intelligence services for acting to eliminate this threat to the American people.

The length of time this has taken to accomplish -- more than 13 years since the embassy bombings -- reminds us that military and paramilitary operations have limitations and that the fight against terrorism requires a multifaceted approach, and reminds us that we must develop as much international cooperation as possible to defeat it.

Central New Jersey Small Business Spotlight: VaxInnate

Recently, I joined the leadership of the Cranbury-based biotechnology firm VaxInnate to tour its laboratory and celebrate the company's success in securing a federal contract to fund development of the next generation of vaccines to fight the flu and other pandemics -- vaccines not dependent on chicken egg cultures, using instead bacterial recombinant methods.

New Jerseyans can be proud that groundbreaking scientific research and development is taking place here in Central New Jersey. Continued investment in innovative biomedical research is crucial to protecting the public from flu pandemics and potential bioterrorism threats. One company's research in Cranbury holds the promise of enabling us to modernize and speed up the production of vaccines to better protect Americans' health.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress