MANCHESTER – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, joined WFEA’s Jeff Chidester to discuss her work to help New Hampshire's veterans and their families access the care and benefits that they have earned and deserve, during last week’s Veterans Stand Down in Manchester.
In case you missed it, listen to Senator Hassan’s interview here and see below for some key moments:
Chidester: “I do have to ask you when you look at it as a collective, you guys went down to Washington D.C. You all try to get on these committees that represent them—armed services or veteran services—and you actually advocated very strongly for a recent announcement of money coming back to New Hampshire to help serve.”
Senator Hassan: “I say to a veteran, ‘You're in New Hampshire. We got your back,’ and it doesn't matter where you live, and it doesn't matter whether you spend a lot of time with veterans' organizations or not. [It] doesn't matter what you do, or where you are – we have got your back. Understanding how many veterans there are in New Hampshire, understanding that in our Live Free and or Die way, we really want to make sure that every veteran is free to live the life that makes sense for them.
“These funds are really critical to help us build up this collaboration. Local, state, federal, volunteer, private sector – we all come together in New Hampshire. Veterans Count being one of the early organizations that really said we're not just going to ask the federal government for something or ask the state government for something. We're going to come together, and we're going to bring all of our resources as a state into one place, so veterans know we have their back. This $10 million is going to help us continue to serve veterans in the way that is best for them-not a top-down approach, but a community support approach.”
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