WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, has introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would provide a steep discount for veterans to visit National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands. The Veterans Eagle Parks Pass Act, H.R. 1354, will provide an annual “America the Beautiful: National Parks and Federal Lands Pass” to veterans who were honorably discharged. Under Rehberg’s bill the pass would cost Veterans only $10 instead of the current amount of $80.

“While we can’t thank our veterans enough for the price they paid in sacrificing on behalf of our country, this is a price a grateful nation can alleviate as a way to say thanks,” said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “The majestic beauty of our National Parks are a fitting monument to the sacrifices of our soldiers. After all, without their service to our country, these parks wouldn’t exist. We should make visiting these living monuments easier for our vets.”

This is the third veterans-related bill that Congressman Rehberg has personally sponsored in 2009. The first is the Veterans Firearm Heritage Act and the second directs the Veterans Administration to identify regions that are underserved by national cemeteries. Rehberg also secured funding for Missoula’s Poverello Center which serves Montana’s homeless veterans population.

“We really appreciate and applaud what Congressman Rehberg is doing for veterans,” said Gary Scheffmeyer the National President for Rolling Thunder, a nonprofit motorcycle veterans group with more than 88 chapters throughout the nation. Scheffmeyer, a veteran, tours the country visiting federal lands and national parks on a 1997 Honda Valkyrie. “Any Congressman that upholds vets issues is okay in my book, because without our veterans we’ve got nothing in this country.”