Statement by Honorable Addie J. Russell, Chair of the Subcommittee on Women Veterans

            On June 12, 2012, I will be holding a luncheon in the Legislative Office Building in Albany to thank our women veterans for their service and acknowledge their sacrifices and their contributions to our country. After the luncheon, we will honor their service on the floor of the Assembly with a resolution. We currently have troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to tens of thousands more stationed worldwide.  Every day, these soldiers who include women make tremendous sacrifices serving our country. 

            New York State is home to over one million veterans including about 68,000 women veterans.  They are our grandmothers, mothers, daughters, aunts, cousins, co-workers, friends and neighbors, ordinary citizens who have served in extraordinary ways to preserve our freedoms and liberties.

            It is our duty as citizens, not just elected officials, to remember the service of these women, their sacrifices and their commitment to America and its citizens.  We should begin by thanking them for their service and honor them by adopting legislative measures that are meaningful so that they know their service was not in vain and unacknowledged.

            I encourage any woman who has served her country to contact my office so we can add your name to our mailing list and encourage you to attend our luncheon.  Please call my office at

315-786-0284 or 315-386-2037 or email me at russella@assembly.state.ny.us.