REMARKS
Council Member Robert Holden's opening remarks on veterans' civic engagement hearing
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4 min
Council Member Robert Holden opens the oversight hearing on increasing Veterans Civic Engagement in New York City. He discusses the importance of veterans' perspectives in civic life, current engagement efforts, and introduces key topics for discussion with witnesses from the Department of Veteran Services and veteran community representatives.
- Highlights the "Vet the Vote" campaign to recruit veterans as poll workers
- Mentions the upcoming voter registration deadline and interest in outreach efforts
- Expresses interest in the work of the New York City Veterans Advisory Board
Robert F. Holden
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Thank you, Sergeant.
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Good morning.
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I am counsel member Robert Holden, chair of the committee on veterans Welcome to our oversight hearing on increasing Veterans Civic Engagement in New York City.
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In a landmark book of Civic Responsibility edited by leading scholar Thomas Eric Civic engagement is defined as working to make a difference in civic life of our communities.
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The book also notes that a morally and civically responsible individual is willing to take action when appropriate.
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Well, you know, our veterans have already worked and, in some cases, sacrificed a great deal to make a difference in the civic life of our nation through their service.
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Veterans are the walking definition of the morally and civically responsible individuals who have taken action to make a difference.
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As a result of their service, veterans have a unique perspective on the civic life that they fought to defend, and we should all want to hear their voices not only when it comes to national issues, but also when it comes to local and state issues, especially those that affect veterans and their families.
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Right now, Veterans here in New York City are working to improve the quality of life in their communities by voting, volunteering, with civic community organizations, joining and serving in leadership positions, and veteran service organizations and even running for elected office, even though we need more running for elected office, but it's a start.
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Then how can our veterans be better supported in their civic work THEY DO NOW IN THEIR COMMUNITIES AND WHAT ENCOURAGMENT MIGHT THEY NEED TO BECOME EVEN MORE ENGAGED?
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THAT IS OUR QUESTION TODAY FOR OUR WITNESSES FROM THE D.
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V.
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S.
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERAN SERVICES AND from our witnesses who are veterans or represent our veteran community and our veteran service organizations.
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We look forward to having a discussion with DBS about its and support for veterans engagement in community volunteer work, including any work that has been done on the vet the vote nationwide campaign launched to get veterans and military families to serve as poll workers.
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Ventevote enjoys partnerships with the NBA and with NASCAR in its recruitment campaign.
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As president Obama tweeted, poll workers, power, our democracy, helping voters cast their vows and making sure that elections run smoothly.
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So far, over a 136,000 veterans and family members have been signed up to work for the polls in November.
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We also look forward to a discussion about the work of our own New York City Veterans Advisory Board, an important civic engagement opportunity for our veterans.
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Finally, with the deadline for voter registration coming up on October 26, we are very interested in whether any voter registration out for each is being conducted to make sure that the veterans are registered to vote and in in the important upcoming elections.
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And as always, we want to know how the city council can support all of this work.
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At this time, I would like to acknowledge my colleagues who are here today, council member Christine Marmiro, And that's it.
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Right?
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Okay.
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Also, I would like to thank committee staff for work to prepare this hearing, John Larossa, our legislative counsel, Regina Paul, our our policy analyst analyst and Ross Goldstein, our financial analyst.
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And finally, thanks to my chief of staff, Daniel Kazina, who's standing out somewhere in the hallway, I think.
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I would also like to turn it over to our legislative council to administer the oath to our witnesses from the administration.
