Weekly Update from Senator John Ensign
March 3- March 9, 2008: Nevada National Guard Airmen Return Home, Nevada Students Selected for Youth Program, and Cosponsorship of Bill Supporting Our Combat Veterans

Nevada National Guard Airmen Return Home
This week, our state welcomed home about 40 airmen from the Nevada Air National Guard’s 152nd Airlift Wing and 152nd Intelligence Squadron. Their mission lasted over one year and, after a job well done, we should all congratulate them. These heroes live in our communities and neighborhoods, and they made both their country and state proud during their deployment and service to our country. I am honored to welcome them back home and truly thank them for their bravery and service.

Nevada Students Selected for Youth Program
I am pleased to announce that two Nevada high school students were selected to participate in the 46th Annual United States Senate Youth Program, which was held in Washington, D.C., this week. Alexandria Hill of Reno and Kristen Kelly of Las Vegas were chosen from several hundred applicants to join the group of student delegates attending the program’s Annual Washington Week. The basis of this program is to expand the students’ knowledge of the interaction between the three branches of government and the importance of a democratic system of government to our country. I congratulate both Alexandria and Kristen on this incredible opportunity.

Cosponsorship of Bill Supporting Our Combat Veterans
I believe it is important that our country protect families that have lost a loved one, which is why I have cosponsored the Combat Veterans Debt Elimination Act of 2008. The goal of this bill is to protect families who have lost a loved one, in action or otherwise, from being sent bills by the Department of Veterans Affairs for debts owed by the deceased service member. The majority of these cases have involved student debt incurred by the service member who subsequently returned to duty and was killed in action. For the sake of these grieving families, I believe it is important that our government not tarnish the memory of their loved ones with a mound of unpaid debt.

Sincerely, John Ensign United States Senator