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OP/ED SUBMISSION |
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State
Rep. Kevin Murphy |
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The time is now to serve those who serve us
HARRISBURG, Feb. 12 – Please consider the column below from state Rep. Kevin Murphy, D-Lackawanna, for inclusion on your Op/Ed page at your earliest convenience.
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For some time now, I have been working on an issue that greatly troubles me. In October 2009, I learned of the state Department of Labor & Industry’s plans to close five regional centers and two multipurpose centers that for 29 years, have served our Commonwealth’s veterans. I am speaking about the Governor’s Veterans’ Outreach and Assistance Centers.
The decision to go through with closing the centers was made because of further budget constraints with the 2009-10 fiscal year budget. Labor and Industry decided that, painfully, there was no other choice but to redirect the federal funding that previously went to the centers to other Veterans’ Service Organizations.
These centers, located in Harrisburg, Erie, Greensburg, Boyertown and West Pittston, along with the two multipurpose centers in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, officially closed their doors Jan. 1.
My objective since this decision was made has been to find a way to save these centers, which have provided invaluable services to our veterans, through assistance in locating federal dollars from my counterparts in U.S. Congress.
Established in 1980, the GVOACs are a unique tool of the Commonwealth, its veterans and their families, and it is incumbent upon us, as a legislative body, to find a way to fund them. They simply cannot be abolished. There must be a way to preserve this program and to secure permanent funding for it. My contention is that we will need to rely more heavily on the GVOACs as our active-duty soldiers and personnel return home from overseas.
It is a sad state of affairs to have an entity whose mission is to serve those who serve us close its doors, even in a time of recession. I believe we are duty bound to find a way to keep the GOVACs operational. It is the least we can do for our veterans who have sacrificed so much to protect our nation and the freedoms we enjoy.
I and my colleagues in the state House of Representatives -- from both parties -- are reaching out to our colleagues on the federal level, requesting assistance and support to rectify this pressing issue. It is our collective feeling that we are duty bound to come to the aid of those who have proudly and bravely worn our country’s uniform, and who have made the sacrifices -- and for some, the ultimate sacrifice -- in the name of freedom and in defense of our great nation.
(State Rep. Kevin Murphy is a Democrat representing the 113th Legislative District in Lackawanna County. He can be reached at www.pahouse.com/murphy)
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