CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Congressman and Army veteran Mark Green was in Clarksville Thursday to host a Veterans Town Hall at the William O. Beach Civic Hall in Veterans Plaza.
More than 60 veterans, their family members and community leaders attended the meeting. Green, who represents the 7th District, said the purpose of the town hall was to listen to what the veterans had to say, and the goal was to find out the issues affecting them and to get them fixed.
Green shared his concern about the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan and the U.S. servicemembers killed and injured in the recent attack in Kabul.
“I believe that for 20 years we’ve kept a terrorist attack from happening on American soil, and that has had value. The men and women who sacrificed in this fight, gave that sacrifice to be able to have freedom from a terrorist attack for 20 years,” Green said.
The congressman also addressed questions about the new mandate for military personnel to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He talked about a bill he proposed in Congress that says if someone is compelled to get a vaccine that has no longitudinal data on it, and they refuse, you must give them an honorable discharge if you kick them out of the Army.
Green added that he didn’t think the mandate was appropriate, but he didn’t want to see any adverse actions taken against any soldier that felt like he couldn’t take the vaccine.
He also talked about several pieces of legislation he has introduced to help veterans and their families. Those include the Protecting Gold Star Spouses Act, the Spiritual Readiness Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), along with an amendment to improve military barracks and the K2 Veterans Toxic Exposure Accountability Act.