SAN ANTONIO, November 12 - What better way to honor our more than 120,000 Rio Grande Valley veterans than to finally build and maintain a VA hospital in the region?

WASHINGTON, November 12 - Veterans Day, which we formally mark today, is a time for reflection. It is a time for honoring the men and women who have risked their lives in far-flung corners of the world to defend our freedom.

EDINBURG, November 11 - Today is Veterans Day, a day we set aside to honor those who have served in America’s 100 wars.

McALLEN, October 20 - The Department of Veterans Affairs has again rejected calls from veterans to build a VA hospital in the Rio Grande Valley.

HARLINGEN, October 4 - State Rep. René Oliveira, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and potential U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela have joined in the tributes to Rio Grande Valley veteran’s leader Arturo “Treto” Garza.

HARLINGEN, September 30 – Actor Samuel Jackson’s new commercial should have hit the South Texas veteran right on target and if veterans do not wake the f…k up, we will never get a Veterans Affairs hospital. 

HARLINGEN, September 23 - In a local newspaper, Congressman Rubén Hinojosa, is quoted saying that he has submitted a proposal for funding for an Emergency Room at the “Veterans Medical Center” in Harlingen, Texas.

HARLINGEN, September 10 - The new contract voucher system that was implemented as a result of the Booz Allen study has proven that there are enough veterans to sustain a VA hospital in South Texas.

HARLINGEN, August 30 - U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is pushing Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to add in inpatient health care at the new VA Health Care Center in Harlingen.

HARLINGEN, August 27 - Here is how the claims office at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is handling the backlog of claims:

McALLEN, August 14 - U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and U.S. Reps. Rubén Hinojosa and Henry Cuellar are due to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new VA Outpatient Clinic in the Rio Grande Valley tomorrow.

HARLINGEN, August 7 - Congratulations to attorney Filemon Vela on his recent victory in the Democratic primary election for Congressional District 34.

HARLINGEN, July 28 - Recently the United States Supreme Court ruled that the “Stolen Valor Act” is unconstitutional and thus may not be enforced.

WESLACO, July 17 - State Rep. Armando “Mando” Martinez says President Obama should make time to meet with Rio Grande Valley veterans during his visit to San Antonio today.

HARLINGEN, July 15 - Democracy in Action or at least that is what veterans thought it was when they aggressively sought a Constitutional Amendment to the Texas Constitution on Nov. 3, 2009.

HARLINGEN, June 20 - Rio Grande Valley veterans still do not have a Veterans Affairs hospital. Will our local heroes ever get one?

HARLINGEN, June 30 - The efforts of Rio Grande Valley veterans to bring a Veterans Affairs hospital to Harlingen have slowed down somewhat. 

HARLINGEN, June 17 - U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki often reminds us: as the tide of war recedes we have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to anticipate the needs of returning veterans.

HARLINGEN, June 12 - Veterans in South Texas have been actively advocating for a Veterans Affairs Hospital for the region for years.

McALLEN, May 28 - Having just recently observed Texas' Vietnam Veterans Day, I noted that we Americans pay tribute to our heroes with frequency. 

HARLINGEN, May 28 - It has been very quiet in recent weeks on the part of Rio Grande Valley veterans’ efforts to bring a Full Service Medical Center (FSMC) to South Texas. 

HARLINGEN, May 6 - On Thursday April 26, 2012 I attended the last rites for a good friend, Mr. Pablo Diaz of Santa Maria, Texas.

HARLINGEN, April 15 –  There will be a meeting of the VA’s Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans on April 26 at the Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen.

McALLEN, March 28 - More communities than ever, since State Representative Wayne Smith and I passed Senate Bill 1903, establishing March 29 as Texas Vietnam Veterans' Day, are joining in a memorial that is very personal to me.

HARLINGEN, March 25 - As time goes by, it becomes more apparent that more and better health services are needed to address the many health ailments of Rio Grande Valley veterans.