When a recruit raises their right hand and recites the Oath of Allegiance, they are swearing to defend our country with their lives. It’s like writing a blank check, and demonstrates their willingness to give their life to defend the constitution of the United States- a check that many never cashed. What greater proof of loyalty and allegiance can we ask of our servicemen and women than that? If you are willing to die for the United States, you should be given the opportunity to live in the United States. We should be responsible for facilitating their citizenship from day one, and that means providing all necessary resources so that enlistees can gain their citizenship by the end of basic training. This is the minimum we owe our active-duty service men and women. When this becomes a reality, we will be ensuring that every recruit has the opportunity to perform their unique talents in support of keeping our military the best trained military force in the world.

The United States House of Representatives demonstrated that they understand the need to facilitate and expedite the citizenship process for our non-citizen military, veterans and military families, and we respectfully ask that members of the United States Senate also endorse and pass the Veteran Service Recognition Act.

The Veteran Service Recognition Act will:

1. Facilitate and expedite the citizenship process for our non-citizen military members, veterans and their families

2. Create a committee to review cases of those veterans who are currently in removal proceedings or have already been deported. It allows this committee to make considerations for those who have been unjustly deported or for those whose character flaws put them in legal jeopardy as a result of their military service

We as veterans, military families and veteran organizations, urge you to sign our petitionand send a loud and clear message to your U.S. Senator demanding their support for The Veteran Service Recognition Act.