WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — For his final Veterans Day as Commander-in-Chief, President Joe Biden offered a message of unity and gratitude during a large ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery.
“It’s been the greatest honor of my life to lead you, to care for you, to defend you just as you defended us generation after generation after generation,” President Biden told the crowd.
The president used the bully pulpit to highlight his administration’s efforts to improve the lives of veterans during his tenure. According to the White House, veteran homelessness is down 11.7% since 2020 and this year alone, nearly 48,000 veterans found housing.
He says his greatest achievement was signing the PACT Act into law. The federal legislation allows veterans exposed to toxic burn pits access to VA healthcare benefits.
“The PACT Act has already helped over one million veterans and their families get the benefits they deserve,” Biden said.
Blue Star Families Founder, Kathy Roth-Douquet, says the PACT Act “means everything” to military families. She also credits the president for pushing pay raises for service members, as well as affordable housing and childcare.
President Biden took a moment to reflect on his own son’s military service during his Veterans Day remarks. Beau Biden served in Iraq. He later died from a rare brain cancer at the age of 42.
“I remember how hard it was when he was deployed, empty seats at the dinner table,” Biden said. “This is my duty as president but also as a parent.”
According to a survey conducted by Blue Star Families, approximately eight in ten military families believe there will be a “major conflict” in the next three to five years.
Douquet says “anxiety is high” and military families need community support.
Since the election, President Biden has assured the nation, the country will be “OK.” Closing his speech, he called on the nation to come together and “keep faith in each other.”
President-elect Donald Trump is pledging to end conflicts abroad once he takes office.
