Sens. Cruz, Braun, Ossoff, Send Bipartisan Letter To Help Veterans Access Essential Military Records

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), along with Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), and seventeen additional Senate colleagues, sent a bipartisan letter to the United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) seeking answers on the backlog of veterans’ service record requests. Veterans often require their military service records to access critical government benefits and services, so ensuring requests are completed expeditiously is crucial for veterans to receive their hard-earned benefits.

In the letter, the senators called on NARA to address its use of funds provided by Congress to address the backlog, writing, “We write to express our concern regarding reports of ongoing delays in constituents receiving their military service records from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). As part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (P.L. 117-263), Congress passed the Access for Veterans to Records Act. This authorized $60 million for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to address the records backlog and improve response times for requests from Veterans for their military service records.”

Cosigners include Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Ray Lujan (R-N.M.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), John Boozman (R-Wyo.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

Read the full text of the letter here.