Washington, D.C. – Congressman Bob Filner was awarded with the National Distinguished Public Service Award by the American Legion this week at the organization’s national conference in Washington, DC.
“It is extremely humbling to receive an award like this because I am working for you all and you are all the heroes,” said Congressman Filner after receiving the award (full video below).
In his speech, Congressman Filner talked about granting disability claims from Vietnam veterans. “Are you going to tell me you’re going to balance the budget on the backs of our Vietnam vets by not granting these claims?” he said. “Let’s bring down the debt, but not on the backs of these veterans.”
Congressman Filner went on to call for making sure all of our recent veterans have job opportunities when they return home, saying “Let’s welcome home everybody in this country who has served our nation by making sure they have a job and are contributing.”
In 2007, Congressman Filner became the Chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee during which time they held more than 200 hearings and passed significant legislation to provide historic budget increases for veterans, expand access to VA health care, improve health services for all veterans, and modernize benefits earned by America’s troops. He currently serves as the Ranking Democratic Member on the committee.