Veterans

Veterans are part of the essential fabric of American society. If we are willing to ask someone to defend our Country, then we should be willing to be supportive of them not only during their service but also after they complete their military career.

Israel has been a key partner for Virginia Veterans working on a number of important issues. At the request of Veteran constituents, Israel has passed bills that provided specialty license plates for Veterans of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. For a multitude of reasons, those Veterans had been denied a specialty license plate and Israel’s bills fixed that problem. Now Veterans of those conflicts can proudly display those license plates.

Delegate O'Quinn also carried and passed a bill permanently naming the second Sunday in August as "Spirit of '45 Day" in honor of our World War II Veterans.

Israel also worked with Speaker Kirk Cox to ensure that the Department of Veterans Services has enough field agents to process Veterans’ claims and connect them with the appropriate providers. The Commonwealth of Virginia should be an accessible resource for Veterans so they are aware of what is available to them: the benefits and rights they have fought so hard to defend.