Dear Friend,

On Monday I held a discussion with some of America's heroes right here on Long Island.

I hosted a group of Long Island veterans to hear from Max Cleland, Secretary for the American Battle Monuments Commission, former Senator and a combat-wounded veteran. We discussed the future of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and other veterans issues.

The American Battle Monuments Commission is the guardian of America's overseas commemorative cemeteries and memorials. There are currently nearly 125,000 American service members interred in overseas cemeteries – almost 31,000 from World War I and more than 93,000 from World War II.

As Chairman of the Battlefield Caucus in the House of Representatives and as a member of the House Appropriations Committee tasked with funding our veterans programs, including the ABMC, I am working to preserve the legacy of these American heroes. I believe it is our national responsibility to ensure that the sacrifices these heroes made for our freedoms should never be forgotten.

For more information on my work preserving our veterans' legacies, please visit http://israel.house.gov.

Sincerely,

Steve Israel

Member of Congress