State Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, issued the following statement:
“On Monday, Ralph Northam took credit for the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) program that was created as a pilot program under Gov. Bob McDonnell (Lt Col, US Army, Retired) and put into law by HB 1906 carried by Del. Rich Anderson (Colonel, USAF, Retired), Chief Patron of the bill.”
“Every year since, the program has grown because Rich and I, as co-chairs of the General Assembly Military & Veterans Caucus, navigated funding through the appropriations process in the General Assembly. We are about to top 25,000 veterans hired under Rich’s V3 program, and we plan to team with Gov. Ed Gillespie to rocket V3 hires to 50,000 vets by January 2022.”
“Ralph’s claim that he has been central to V3 success is misleading. In fact, he has been AWOL from most military and veteran events, just as he has been absent from his meetings of the problem-plagued Virginia Economic Development Partnership, never attended his meetings of the Secure Commonwealth Panel, never attended his meetings of the Council on Virginia’s Future, and skipped almost half of his meetings of the Virginia Military Advisory Council.”
“He was a no-show at the 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 state conventions of the American Legion and VFW. At the American Legion State Convention this past Saturday, Northam’s two running mates received a tepid reception, while Ed received repeated outbursts of applause and cheers as he unveiled his military and veterans plan for the next four years.”
“After eight years of erosion of U.S. military might during the Obama and Clinton years, veterans know anemic support when they see it. I’m proud of our General Assembly Military & Veterans Caucus that has been the first line of defense for 800,000 Virginia veterans. I look forward to January 2018 when we join Ed Gillespie to continue our march toward making Virginia the most veteran-friendly state in the nation.”