Tester Celebrates Veterans Day with Lockwood Community

Senator: “Together we’ll keep fighting to deliver for veterans, just as they have delivered for us.”

U.S. Senator Jon Tester, Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, today joined students, faculty, veterans, local officials, and community members at Lockwood High School to celebrate and honor Montana’s veterans. 

“Veterans Day is a day of celebration and reflection,” said Tester. “The fact is, the cost of war isn’t just paid on the battlefield—it’s also paid by making sure our veterans have access to quality health care, good paying jobs, and affordable housing here at home. That’s why as Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I’m proud our country came together earlier this year to finally do right by our toxic-exposed veterans through my bipartisan PACT Act. This law was made possible by Montana veterans and advocates who never took their foot off the gas, and together we’ll keep fighting to deliver for veterans, just as they have delivered for us.”

As Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Tester is leading the fight in Washington to hold the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) accountable and tear down barriers to care and benefits for Montana veterans. Among many priorities, he is continuing to push for the steady implementation of landmark laws such as his Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022, Making Advances in Mammography and Medical Options (MAMMO) for Veterans Act and Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act (Hannon Act). He remains committed to working on new reforms to keep expanding critical health care and benefits to veterans, their families, and survivors.

As the only member of the Montana delegation who sits on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator Tester worked for years alongside Veterans Service Organizations and his Senate colleagues to deliver comprehensive toxic exposure relief to the nation’s veterans. Named after Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson who died in 2020 from toxic exposure as a result of his military service, Tester’s historic PACT Act provides health care for Post-9/11 combat veterans, creates a framework for the establishment of future presumptions of service connection related to toxic exposure, expands VA’s list of service presumptions, and improves resources to support claims processing.