“To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936.

In just a couple of weeks, Americans will honor a special day in our history, the 65th anniversary of V-E Day. Victory in Europe came on May 8, 1945, when Allied forces accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. The surrender of Japan three months later would signal the end of World War II.

No event in the 20th Century touched more lives or had a greater impact on more people the world over than did the Second World War. America emerged from the war a true global super power, and became a beacon of hope to a war-ravaged and weary world. But the impact was also felt back here at home. Rare is even the smallest of towns that did not have young men at war, and young men who did not come home due to war. My small hometown of Biscoe was no exception. My father served in the 30th Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

The challenges our parents and grandparents faced during that time are hard to imagine for many of us. Our fathers and grandfathers went off to fight in Europe, Africa and the Pacific. Our mothers and grandmothers kept families, homes and communities together. For decades after the war, the men who fought, and their loved ones who worked in factories and shipyards to feed the industrial needs of war, were the leaders and pillars of our communities, and helped form the fabric of American life for more than half a century.

In the years prior to the war, President Roosevelt established the Social Security Administration. Roosevelt knew that our nation owed a debt to its senior citizens, whose hard work and perseverance had built America into a great nation. Social Security became a promise our nation made to those whose service and sacrifice had gotten our nation and the world through the dark days of war. That was the debt our nation would owe them, and each subsequent generation which would redefine and re-establish American greatness, as they grew older. For 75 years, FDR’s legacy – Social Security – has helped millions and millions of senior citizens face, with increased security and dignity, the uncertainty associated with aging.

In establishing Social Security, and later, Medicare, our nation recognized the importance of caring for our seniors, and made a promise to do so. I have vowed to work hard to see that promise is fulfilled. I will continue my fight against any attempts to cut funding to Medicare benefits and the services they provide to the disabled, the terminally ill and the senior citizens of our nation. Our senior citizens have earned the right to be treated with love, dignity and respect as they enter and navigate the twilight of life. That journey is challenging and stressful enough without the government making it worse by denying key elements of care to those who need it most. It is never the right time to shortchange senior citizens the care and dignity they are due.

I will also stand firm to fight against any attempt to so-called “privatize” Social Security. These are merely schemes to take the money owed to working Americans and turn it over to Wall Street to gamble. The benefits and payments owed to seniors must be guaranteed. As we have learned in a very hard way in recent years, there are no guarantees on Wall Street, especially when they are allowed to play loose with other people’s money. We must work to make Social Security and Medicare solvent. Cutting billions from those programs, or turning them over to hedge fund managers to gamble with are not the answers.

Giving our seniors a chance to remain in their homes for so long as they choose is a fundamental part of the debt we owe them. It is indisputable that home health care and hospice keep people out of hospitals and nursing homes and allows them to live, and die, with dignity. Medicare accounted for 37 percent of home health care payments in 2006 with just 10 percent coming from private insurance. Medicare is vital to keeping seniors safe and secure in their homes. I will continue to fight to ensure Medicare and home health care are protected.

Protecting and caring for military veterans is a moral obligation that we can’t shirk or take lightly. The men and women, throughout our history, who have fought to keep us free, most receive the care and services to which they are entitled. That is why I will continue to fight for enhanced veterans care, increased benefits and compassionate, professional delivery of services. Last week, I voted in support of “Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010.”

In addition to the V-E Day Anniversary on May 8, May is Older Americans and National Military Appreciation Month. There is no better time than this for our nation to reaffirm its commitment to its senior citizens and its veterans. I pledge to continue to do all I can to ensure that we keep our promises to those whom we owe so much.



Congressman Larry Kissell (D-N.C. -8) offices include Rockingham: 230 East Franklin St., Rockingham, NC 28379, Phone: 997-2070; Concord number (704) 786-1612; Fayetteville number (910) 920-2070; Washington office: 512 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515; phone (202) 225-3715. Web site, kissell.house.gov.