WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 29, 2018)-  Today, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) Chief Policy Officer and Iraq war veteran, Melissa Bryant, participated in a roundtable for Veteran and Military Service Organizations held by Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson and senior Air Force officials in Washington D.C.. The roundtable, led by the only female service secretary, comes as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drag on. Following the roundtable meeting IAVA issued the following statement:

“IAVA appreciates the opportunity to meet with Secretary Wilson today. Our members worldwide are grateful that she made time today to meet with IAVA and other leading groups serving our troops and veterans,” said IAVA Chief Policy Officer, Melissa Bryant. “As the only female service secretary, I was glad to be able to share the huge momentum the #SheWhoBorneTheBattle campaign has made in the last few months and to educate senior officials on our Big 6 priorities that will ensure veterans get the support and recognition they earned. We look forward to working with Secretary Wilson and her team to increase support for all veterans at this critical time. We thank the Secretary for engaging us in this important conversation.”

At a time of unprecedented politicization of veterans and military by political leaders across the aisle, and the firing of VA Secretary David Shulkin, the landmark “Big 6” initiative is IAVA’s biggest and boldest advocacy campaign ever, centering veterans voices and empowering them to lead the nation forward. The Big 6 is an urgent call to Congress, the White House, and all Americans to stand with IAVA now to tackle veteran suicide, support women veterans, defend the GI Bill, invest in and protect VA and DoD reform, sound the alarm on burn pits and empower veterans to utilize medical cannabis.

For more information on IAVA’s detailed recommendations for the President, the administration, and Congress, see our Policy Agenda.