Advocates say veterans, especially those living in Georgia,
will lose a powerful voice in Washington, D.C. when Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny
Isakson resigns at the end of the year.
Isakson is currently serving his third consecutive term as
chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, a position he’s held
since 2015.
“Anytime your senator
is the chairman of a committee, especially a big committee that one of the
cabinet members has to answer to, you get a lot of extra attention,” said Joe
Chenelly, executive director of AMVETS.
Chenelly says Isakson used his position to elevate the
concerns of veterans in Georgia and across the country.
He also praised Isakson’s willingness to work across the
aisle, calling the Veterans Affairs
committee “the most bipartisan” on Capitol Hill.
Chenelly pointed to Isakson’s recent work on the 2018
MISSION Act, which gives veterans access to healthcare outside of the VA
system.
The measure it not without its critics, but Chenelly says it
never would have passed in the first place if
Isakson hadn’t been willing to reconcile the concerns of Democrats and
Republicans on his committee.
“He has always tried
to make sure that there was respect when the committee worked on very
controversial issues, that everybody was heard, that everybody had at least
something to gain,” said Adrian Atizado, with the group Disabled American
Veterans.
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