Meehan Earns Support of Prominent Veterans

Major General James Livingston, Major General William Lynch endorse Meehan

DREXEL HILL, PA – Pat Meehan highlighted his commitment to our nation’s veterans today at an event where he received the endorsement of Major General James Livingston, Major General William Lynch and other local veterans.
 
“For 33 years I served my country as a United States Marine — I love this nation and its security has been the essence of my adult life,”  said Major General James Livingston, a retired Marine Corps general who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroic actions in 1968 during the Vietnam War.  “In all those years I have never been more concerned about our nation’s security, and, unfortunately, the threat is not coming from a foreign source but from within.  A bankrupt nation is not a secure nation and the Pelosi, Reid and Obama policies are, if not stopped, sure to bankrupt us. Pat Meehan’s opponent has vowed to support these policies.”
 
“Throughout his career as a U.S. Attorney, Pat Meehan has demonstrated that he is a man of integrity – that he will stand up and do the right thing,” continued Livingston.  “He understands the need to get our spending under control.  Pat Meehan knows the importance of putting our nation back on a path to fiscal responsibility.  I am calling on all of my fellow veterans in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional district to support Pat Meehan on November 2nd.  I did not spend 33 years of my life defending this nation’s security only to stand by and watch a morally debased Congress do what no foreign foe could, lead us to defeat.  Bryan Lentz, and those who believe as he and Pelosi do, must be defeated.”
 
Joining Livingston in endorsing Meehan was Major General William B. Lynch, a Former Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, responsible for command of all Air and Army National Guard units allocated to the State of Pennsylvania and programs for Pennsylvania’s 1.3 million veterans. 
 
“Without a strong economy, we can’t have a strong military, and Pat Meehan understands that revitalizing our economy is essential to our nation’s prosperity and security,” said Lynch. “Without the courage and integrity to cut wasteful spending and taxes, we will not create the jobs and opportunities to sustain our economy. Pat Meehan has that courage.”
 
State Rep. Nick Miccarelli, who served as an infantryman in the United States Army and currently serves as a staff sergeant in the Army National Guard, and other local veterans were also present at the event to express their support for Pat Meehan’s campaign for Congress.
 
“It means a great deal to me to have the backing of those who served our country with dignity and honor in our armed forces,” said Meehan.  “I have the utmost respect for the men and women who served in the military.  And I believe strongly that our nation has a duty and an obligation to meet our promises to military personnel, veterans and their families, individuals who put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and our way of life.”
 
At the event, Meehan outlined a number of issues related to veterans and our military service personnel that he will focus on in Congress.  These include:
 
– Increased protections for our veterans and military personnel from those who seek to prey upon them.  As U.S. Attorney, Meehan’s office prosecuted attorneys who were supposed to be acting as trusted fiduciary representatives with defrauding disabled military veterans and their heirs of their benefits and raising their accounts.  In another case, Meehan’s office reached a $160 million civil settlement with an insurance company that was believed to have defrauded military service personnel who purchased life insurance.
 
– Strengthen the Stolen Valor Act which makes it illegal for individuals to falsely wear or claim to have received military medals and decorations they did not earn.  Pat prosecuted individuals as U.S. Attorney under this law and he believes that individuals who falsely claim to have received medals commit an affront to every soldier who earned them honorably.   Meehan said that if necessary he would seek to strengthen the law to better withstand court review.
 
– Strengthen efforts to help our nation’s homeless veterans, who account for 33 percent of nation’s adult homeless men. Meehan believes we need to improve the delivery of benefits to those brave men and women who served our country.
 
– Ensure we provide proper funding for veterans programs because there are far too many instances where our veterans and returning military personnel are not receiving the kind of health care and assistance they earned and were promised.
 
– Improve opportunities for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans to compete for government contracts.  Meehan will push for reforms of the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program, which is falling far short of its goals for awarding federal contracts to service-disabled veteran-owned businesses and has been plagued by cases of fraud.