WE, your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled in the First Regular Session, most respectfully present and petition the United States Congress as follows:

WHEREAS,  military personnel from the State of Maine have answered the call to serve our Nation many times and Maine is estimated to be 3rd in the Nation per capita for military service. According to Veterans Administration records, Maine has had 11,531 military members serve since the tragic events of 9/11; and

WHEREAS,  members of the Maine National Guard and Reservists have been deployed many times over and many have returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan needing assistance and medical care; and

WHEREAS,  55 of Maine's services members have been killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS,  more than 320 have received the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat; and

WHEREAS,  many have returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, hearing problems and other physical and mental disabilities; and

WHEREAS,  many communities in Maine need someone who can meet with veterans and survivors to explain benefits and to get the word out to veterans and their families concerning frequently changing Veterans Administration benefits and eligibility; and

WHEREAS,  major issues for returning veterans concerning increasing suicide rates, homelessness, unemployment and education were brought before the 113th Congress with little or no substantive results; and

WHEREAS,  as the 114th Congress begins, veterans and their families in Maine and across the Nation hope that the new Congress will be responsive and helpful and aggressively address the many issues facing the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS,  the men and women who serve our State and Nation so faithfully deserve to have access to care, housing, medical treatment and mental and physical therapy; now, therefore, be it