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Rep. Elaine Luria meets with veterans ahead of Veterans Day

Veterans highlighted their concerns and discussed legislation that would help support them.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — “Veterans right now in my case are some people we need to take care of today," said Robert Randall, the president of the Hampton Roads Council of Veterans Organizations. "Not only veterans but their families, their families of the family in order to make the world keep going on.”

Randall and other veterans highlighted the support they need after combat.

John Cooper with the American Veterans organization says suicide is a very important matter of his.

These are just some of the concerns veterans addressed in a roundtable with Second District Representative Elaine Luria Wednesday morning.

Luria also highlighted the work she’s done for veterans.

She said she helped the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act get passed in 2019.

The law provides long-overdue health benefits to Vietnam-era veterans who served off the coast in Agent Orange and experienced health complications.

She also shared another law she’s working to pass, the Conceding Our Veterans’ Exposure Now and Necessitating Training (COVENANT) Act, which she introduced back in April.

It's the first bill to address the toxins veterans were exposed to in the Middle East and provide them with necessary healthcare.

"We're working on toxic exposure again with burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan," she said. "You know, try to make that easier for veterans to prove that the exposure they had during their service led to medical conditions and they can get the healthcare they deserve.”

Luria said these discussions help her create legislation to help the communities she serves.

“It’s just these conversations that kind of move things forward and make progress for our veterans and our military families," she said.

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