DNC Gathers Veterans in Congress and PACT Act Advocates to Highlight Threat Trump-Vance Ticket Poses to Veterans Arrow

Today the DNC hosted a press call with Reps. Jason Crow, Jake Auchincloss, and Mikie Sherrill, as well as veterans and members of Common Defense, Naveed Shah and Moises Montalvo,a PACT Act recipient, to mark the anniversary of the PACT Act and lay out the threat that Donald Trump, JD Vance, and their extreme Project 2025 agenda pose to veterans. In stark contrast, President Biden and Vice President Harris secured the PACT Act, delivering benefits for more than 888,000 veterans and survivors across the country. Vice President Harris' running mate, Governor Tim Walz, is a veteran himself who has a strong record of delivering for veterans and their families across the state of Minnesota and nationwide. Together, they will fight for those who served our country, and strengthen the democracy that millions have fought and died to protect.

Find highlights from the press call below:

"We're gathering to honor and celebrate the second year anniversary of one of the largest expansions of veterans' benefits in American history. This is not an academic exercise. We see and feel in our districts and our communities the real impact already of this expansion. People are getting access, and now, are eligible for benefits that they weren't able to receive before," said Rep. Jason Crow. "This is lifesaving stuff, and I want to thank the leadership of the Biden-Harris administration, the partnership between Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and actually helping push through and work with Congress to make this expansion happen. Because without that collaboration, without that leadership, it just wouldn't have happened, and now we have over one million veterans nationwide that have the access to these benefits, and that's true leadership. This week we were also introduced to Vice President Harris' running mate: Tim Walz from Minnesota. You have on this ticket a leadership team that represents America."

"The Purple Heart was given before the U.S. Congress, before the presidency, and it's a symbol of the fact that veterans have carried the values of the United States of America for longer even than the United States of America has existed as a nation. But the Trump and Vance ticket do not represent these values of veterans," said Rep. Jake Auchincloss. "Donald Trump has a long track record of disparaging veterans. He called those who gave the last full measure of devotion 'losers' and 'suckers,' and he can try to deny it as much as he wants, but a four-star general and his own staffer heard him say it and has confirmed it on the record repeatedly.."

"'It's really important to note that getting that service to our veterans - serving the most deserving, as we'd say - and taking care of our veterans like we've seen Kamala Harris do, and that we know Walz will do, stands in sharp contrast to what we've seen from Trump in the Project 2025 plan, which has in it plans to [cut] services from veterans, to cut into disability, to review disability and payments to service members, and cut down on those many disability payments like the PACT Act that we fought so hard to get to veterans," said Rep. Mikie Sherrill. "With this ticket, I am so proud to support Vice President Harris, I am so proud to support her pick in Governor Walz. This is a fantastic ticket that veterans can get behind because we know they will continue to fight to support veterans with legislation like the PACT Act."

"We proudly served our country, and now we needed our country to provide us with the support in return when we got home. It's been a long time coming, but after years of advocacy from veteran organizing groups like Common Defense and hard work from our Democratic partners in Congress, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris got it done. Now millions of service members, including those who served with me, are getting what they need and deserve, including veterans who served in Kosovo. I finally have the benefits I need. This was an administration in which we felt heard. We know that President Biden and Vice President Harris are doing everything they can to help us and treat us with respect. That is not what we experienced under the Trump administration," said PACT Act recipient Moises Montalvo. "I know that Kamala Harris cares, and this week, she chose a running mate, Tim Walz, a veteran and a former noncommissioned officer. That's a position that gives him a unique perspective for a couple of reasons. First of all, NCOs understand what it's like on the ground and interact with their soldiers daily. They are the backbone of the U.S. military and know what service is. Secondly, Governor Waltz has firsthand experience dealing with crises, from floods to tornadoes to time stationed abroad. He just gets it, and we in the veteran community and at Common Defense are confident that one of our own will be in the second highest office in our country."

"During my time overseas, I've served near the biggest burn pits in any combat theater at Joint Base Balad. Between the sandstorms and the smoke, it was everywhere no matter where we went. Inside and out, it was always there. When I returned home, I began noticing my own health and the health of my fellow veterans started to change for the worse. And over time, in the years since, it's only continued to get worse," said PACT Act recipient Naveed Shah. "This administration, the Biden-Harris administration, has enacted the most significant expansion of veterans benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans in more than 30 years with the passage and signing of the PACT Act. The PACT Act has already helped nearly 900,000 veterans and survivors across all 50 states and territories, including many people that I served with in Iraq. Without this monumental piece of legislation, countless veterans who serve their country would have been left behind. And if Kamala Harris doesn't take back the White House, all of this progress will be reversed by Donald Trump's extreme anti-veteran, anti-military agenda."