FIGHTING FOR OUR VETERANS WHO FOUGHT FOR US

Having served in the US Army domestically and abroad himself, Lee knows firsthand that his fellow veterans and first responders deserve the highest amount of love, care and respect for the incredible sacrifices they’ve made to keep our country and communities safe, secure, and free. Our veterans protect us abroad, and when they come home the buck shifts to us to fight for them.

While serving as a State Senator, Lee wrote the New York State law that banned protests at military funerals, which he named after Specialist Thomas J. Wilwerth, an Iraq War Veteran and William Floyd High School graduate, who lost his life in combat in 2006.

During this time, he also led the effort to pass a series of bills, one of them named after Specialist Thomas J. Wilwerth, an Iraq War Veteran and William Floyd High School graduate, who lost his life in combat in 2006, that limits protests at military funerals. 

Lee helped deliver a big win for our Vietnam veterans, helping get over the finish line H.R. 299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, which was passed and signed into law to improve treatment for veterans suffering from exposure to Agent Orange.

In Congress, Lee also introduced important legislation to help our nation’s veterans secure access to loans, like the Flexible VA Loan Guarantee Act, which would eliminate the loan limit or the “maximum guarantee amount” of a loan that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) can guarantee for a veteran, and the Veterans Estate Transfer to Survivors Act, or VETS Act, which would require the VA to pay accrued benefits to the estate of a deceased veteran. Lee has strongly supported low income and homeless veterans, by providing funding for grants to nonprofits that aid veterans with shelter and essential financial services through the Supportive Services Veteran Families program. 

His bill to provide Adult Day Health Care to disabled veterans at no cost to the veteran was signed into law by the President. Lee also championed and secured an East End veterans clinic in Manorville to ensure our veterans on Long Island have better access to healthcare here at home. He also secured the expansion of services and hours at the Riverhead VA Community Based Outpatient Center.

Lee has also led a Congressional Delegation every Christmas week since entering Congress to visit with troops deployed to the Middle East, serving them holiday meals and meeting with top military leadership.

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