Cold War Veterans Blog

ACWV MEMBER FRANK ALMQUIST (Illinois resident) LETTER FROM BARACK OBAMA ON S.1097

Dear Frank:

Please accept my sincere apology for the delay in my response to your e-mail in support of the Cold War Victory Medal. I am still working on the challenge of responding efficiently to as many as 2,000 letters, e-mails and calls a day from my Illinois constituents.

I agree that the Cold War Victory medal would be an appropriate honor. The Cold War was a period that required both skilled diplomacy and military readiness. For veterans such as yourself, who had to be prepared to fight a war that most people agreed would be catastrophic, there certainly should be some recognition of service and willingness to defend and go to battle for the United States.

In each of the past two years, the Cold War Victory Medal has passed the House as part of its version of the annual defense authorization bill but has been stymied by influential members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In both cases, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee chose not to include the Cold War Victory Medal provision in their version of the bill, and House negotiators have conceded to them during conference committee negotiations as well. I certainly share your hope that this impasse can be broken soon.

Again, I apologize for the inordinate delay in my response. I hope it will not deter you from staying in touch.


Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator