The Grand Island Independent - Ricketts: Promises Must Be Kept To All Vets

Sunday, June 18, 2006 - Grand Island Independent

Ricketts: Promises Must Be Kept To All Vets

Harold Reutter

Pete Ricketts promised the members of the State Convention of the VFW to give veterans the help they need as they return from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ricketts said giving today's returning veterans the medical care and other help they need protects America by letting the next generation of service people know they also "will be taken care of."

Ricketts is the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democratic senator Ben Nelson.

Ricketts opened his address to the convention meeting at the Howard Johnson Riverside Inn by saying he wanted to thank the veterans for their service and sacrifice to the country.

He noted that his own grandfather served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and he also had two uncles who served in Vietnam.

Ricketts said that when he began his campaign last November he promised to run on Nebraska values. He said those values include "faith, family, responsibility, hard work and determination."

He said one important value Nebraskans share is love of country. While people in other parts of the United States also love their country, Ricketts said, "here, we're not shy about it."

He cited the preamble to the U.S. Constitution which says, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

He said that through their service, veterans have "ensured the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."

Ricketts talked about the recent celebration of Flag Day, and he promised if elected to the U.S. Senate to support efforts to protect the American flag from desecration.

"It (the flag) is an embodiment of the Constitution -- it is not just a symbol," Ricketts said. Just as no one would want to see the U.S. Constitution burned, no one should want to see the flag desecrated.

Ricketts quoted Ronald Reagan, who said "the federal government has taken too much tax money from the people, too much authority from the states and too much liberty with the Constitution."

Ricketts said the federal government must establish priorities. He said one of those priorities is providing for the nation's common defense. He said the earliest leaders of this country made providing for the common defense a priority.

"We need to keep our promises to veterans," said Ricketts, who said he has visited the Veterans Home in Grand Island several times and is aware of its needs as it seeks to carry out its mission of caring for veterans.

That's when he went on to say that he would make sure that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan should know that they will receive all the help they've been promised. He said keeping those promises will let the people in the next generation who serves in the U.S. military know they also will be taken care of.

Ricketts ended by saying he would work to earn the veterans' support during the November general election and he asked them to contact his campaign headquarters if they had any comments or suggestions on issues concerning veterans.

Ricketts was to appear at several other campaign events in Central Nebraska Saturday with his day ending at the Cottonwood Festival in Hastings.

http://www.petericketts.com/full_article.asp?article_id=76