For Immediate Release:

Thursday, May 22, 2008

(Washington, D.C.) - In a letter to the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Doc Hastings led the Washington congressional delegation in urging consideration of legislation they authored to name the VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Wenatchee in honor of Elwood “Bud” Link.

In the letter, the lawmakers noted that Mr. Link “worked tirelessly to secure a new veterans outpatient clinic for North Central Washington,” and asked that their colleagues support the legislation “as a tribute to Bud’s work to support hometown health care for rural Washington state veterans.”

A World War II veteran, Mr. Link had to drive 6 hours roundtrip to receive care through the VA.  In 2001 VFW Post 10445 created a health care committee, with Bud taking the lead.  The committee investigated a variety of ways to improve VA accessibility, and eventually approached Senator Murray and Congressman Hastings with their findings. 

The health care committee, working with Murray and Hastings, began pushing for a clinic to be located in North Central Washington.  Bud was instrumental in keeping the region's veterans motivated, active, and informed about how to successfully make a clinic a reality.  Mr. Link championed the clinic until his death in 2003.

Murray and Hastings introduced their legislation to name the Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Wenatchee in honor of Mr. Link shortly before it opened for business in August 2007. Senator Murray is a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

Read the full text of the Murray-Hastings bill.