E-Newsletter: Thank You

Statement

Dear friends,

This week I appreciated the opportunity to hear from many job creators and job holders in our district. We talked a lot about the impact that burdensome regulations are having on our businesses and that Obamacare is having on many of our lives. When I return to Washington this week I will keep those conversations in mind and continue to pursue legislative options that will bring Americans much needed relief.

This week our nation will also pay special tribute to our veterans. To show our thanks, keep reading to learn about a few things my office and I are doing to celebrate our veterans and ensure they receive the credit and care they deserve.

Ensuring their legacy: The history of our nation has always included stories of our heroic men and women who have defended her. We have an opportunity and a duty to make sure their stories are preserved so that future generations may always know that the freedom they enjoy was not free. In partnership with the Library of Congress, the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans. If you live in the Hudson area and would like to help a Veteran tell his or her story, please spend part of your Veterans' Day with us at our Veteran Oral History Workshop. Click here or see the column on the right for more details.

Hearing the call and answering the need: Roger, from Loyal, WI told me he has to drive ninety minutes each way to see a VA audiologist in Tomah. When his hearing aids quit, he was told they could not fit him in for six months. He couldn't wait that long and needed the benefit of someone local. He went to a nearby hearing aid specialist and paid out-of-pocket for the hearing aids.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), both our aging veterans and younger veterans returning from the battlefield are seeking help from the VA for hearing loss more than any other disability facing them today. VA audiology clinics can't keep up with the increased demand and frustrated veterans are living in a non-hearing world with no one to turn to. Roger, and veterans like him, earned these veterans benefits, and deserve better.

In an effort to help reduce the backlog, I plan to introduce legislation that would allow the VA to begin utilizing hearing instrument specialists in addition to audiology doctors. This would allow VA audiologists to focus on more complex cases and our give our veterans increased access to the care they need.

Keep Your Healthcare Plan Act: The President may have broken his promise to the American people, but House Republicans are working to make good on it. This week we will take up the "Keep Your Healthcare Plan Act" in an effort to ensure that millions of individuals who have received policy cancelation notices as a result of Obamacare could have the option to keep their policies in 2014. I am a cosponsor of this bill and will continue to keep you updated on its progress.

Do you have a job opening? We still have a few booths available for December's jobs fair in Wausau. If you are a job creator in our area, please click here for more details about how to get involved!

To all of our veterans and to the men and women who continue to serve our nation, Thank you. My family and I are always grateful for your service and will offer a special prayer of thanksgiving tomorrow.

Thanks for reading this week's update and for the continued honor of representing you in Congress.

Have a great week,

Sean

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