Today Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) convened a meeting of his Military Advisory Committee at the Congressman’s District Office in Hickory, NC.

Comprised of veterans and reservists from Western North Carolina, the Committee met with the Congressman to discuss important national security and veterans’ issues.

“I appreciate the advice and experience of these veterans, and am thankful we had such a productive meeting today,” said Congressman McHenry.  “Our discussion on veterans and national security issues was very informative, and I was also glad to hear the Committee’s ideas on how we can better secure our borders to put an end to illegal immigration.”

Congressman McHenry created the Military Advisory Committee shortly after being elected to provide him with guidance on military, veterans, and national security issues.  The Committee also selects the Congressman’s nominees of Tenth District students to attend military service academies.

The primary subjects of today’s meeting were improving national security by strengthening border security and issues relating to Veterans’ services for soldiers returning from the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Chris Brackett, who served in the first Gulf War and now lives in Hudson, NC, said, “We ran through a whole gamut of issues, including what we can do at the local level to be more proactive to responding to the needs of soldiers and their families.  I thought it was very positive that the Congressman wanted to speak with veterans about issues that impact their quality of life.”

The Military Advisory Committee consists of soldiers from all four service branches – Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.

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