MonticelloLive

As Arkansas’s 39th Infantry Brigade completes training in Mississippi at Camp Shelby in preparation for their second tour of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, it is imperative that we continue to provide these brave men and women and their families, our full and complete support, regardless of how we may feel about the Iraq war policy.

Last weekend, I had the honor of visiting with members of Arkansas’s 39th at Camp Shelby. This gave me the opportunity to see first-hand the professional training the men and women of the 39th are receiving as they begin their next mission. It is also important that they have the best equipment possible to complete their mission so that they can return home to their families at the end of their deployment. That is why I have voted to fund the equipment and security needs of our soldiers to ensure that they have the best, most technologically-advanced equipment today - not equipment that was available five years ago when this war began. This is the most important obligation and responsibility I have as your elected voice in Washington. Another way that I am supporting our troops is by calling for a new direction in Iraq.
I was also proud to help launch a new bipartisan congressional caucus this week to assist members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. The “America Supports You” Caucus will support the good work already being done by organizations across the country in support of our men and women in uniform and their families. Through the “America Supports You” program, countless Americans are sending care packages to soldiers, donating airline miles to help reunite returning military men and women with their families, supporting scholarship funds, building homes for the wounded, lending their time and pocketbooks and doing much, much more to help all those who are proudly serving our nation.
Many of us have family, friends or know someone who is honorably serving our country in Arkansas’s 39th, and I encourage everyone to join with me in keeping them in our thoughts and prayers as they prepare to once again return to Iraq later this month. I will never be able to express in words how proud I am of the brave men and women of the 39th, but they will always have my unconditional support and gratitude for their service to our nation.