Griffin stands up for Veterans

Concord resident Larry Root makes a great case for electing Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, to the Michigan Senate in a letter-to-the-editor that appears in the Oct. 22 edition of the Jackson Citizen Patriot.
Root is also the Michigan Coordinator for the Missing in America Project, a nationwide effort with a mission to locate, identify and inter with honor every veteran languishing on a mortuary shelf. Root writes:

Griffin a true friend to our military veterans

I am writing to urge you to vote for Marty Griffin for State Senate. I am the state coordinator of the Missing in America Program, a national group that works to ensure our unclaimed veterans receive an honorable burial.
I contacted Marty's office to urge him to support legislation this state needed to make sure every veteran is properly taken care of. Marty went further; he introduced the legislation, which passed in the House last session. It has been reintroduced and is now in the Senate.
Marty Griffin listens to his constituents' concerns and is a true friend of veterans.

The bill in question was House Bill 6200, introduced by Griffin on June 4, 2008 and approved in the House with a vote of 107-0 on Sept. 18, 2008 and sent to the Senate. The bill would simply require funeral directors to screen for veteran status when a cremation order is signed. It died because the Senate refused to take it up before the two-year Legislative session expired; not a single committee hearing was held, nothing.

He reintroduced the bill on Feb. 17, 2009, and it was approved in the House on Feb. 24 by a vote of 106-1. Chuck Moss, R-Birmingham, cast the lone no vote. The bill is currently in the Senate Committee on Senior Citizens and Veterans Affairs where it is stuck again.

First, we need to elect a stand up guy like Griffin for who “Support the Troops” is more than a bumper sticker, and Democrats need to take control of the Senate so good Legislation can at least be considered. The special election to fill the vacant 19th District seat in the Senate is Nov. 3.