Latino perspective important for Wisconsin Veteran programs

Adding a Latino Perspective to Wisconsin Council on Veterans Programs
By State Senator Jim Sullivan, WAUWATOSA NOW, July 20, 2009

As chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs, Biotechnology, and Financial Institutions, I urged my colleagues during a committee hearing last week to vote for adding a member from the Wisconsin American GI Forum to the Wisconsin Council on Veterans Programs.

Sixty years ago, the American GI Forum was launched by Dr. Hector Garcia and other Latino veterans who had served in World War II to end the discrimination that denied them the same benefits others enjoyed as a result of their service to our nation. The American GI Forum is a national organization chartered by Congress and recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Our state's chapter of the group, the Wisconsin American GI Forum, has sought to advance the interests of Latino veterans by fighting against systemic discrimination and inequities that bureaucracy can impose on Latino veterans. Adding a member of the Wisconsin American GI Forum to the Council on Veterans Programs will help ensure Latino veterans’ voices are heard and their best interests are represented.

The Council on Veterans Programs advises the Board of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) on solutions and policy alternatives relating to veterans’ issues. The Council is attached to DVA and consists of members of various veterans organizations, all of whom are appointed for one-year terms.

I believe it is important that we add a member from the Wisconsin American GI Forum to the Council on Veterans Programs to help lend a new perspective to decisions and advice.

You can read a copy of proposal, Senate Bill 195, here. Please contact me if you have questions about the bill. You can reach me toll-free at 866-817-6061 or via email at Sen.Sullivan@legis.wisconsin.gov.