{"id":266057,"date":"2017-12-08T06:00:46","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T20:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=266057"},"modified":"2017-12-08T06:00:46","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T20:00:46","slug":"votevets-pac-endorses-kilili","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/votevets-pac-endorses-kilili\/","title":{"rendered":"VoteVets PAC endorses Kilili"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_266086\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-266086\" style=\"width: 580px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Gregorio-Kilili-Sablan-2010mug.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"580\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-full wp-image-266086\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-266086\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sablan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>VoteVets PAC, the largest progressive group of veterans in America, endorsed the re-election bid of Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongressman Sablan is a true champion of veterans, and we\u2019re proud to endorse him for reelection,\u201d said Jon Soltz, Iraq war veteran, and chairman of VoteVets PAC. \u201cIt\u2019s crucial right now that we have Congressman Sablan\u2019s continued presence in Congress to combat the growing attempts to privatize veterans health care. He\u2019s been a great representative for the Northern Marianas, and an excellent champion for us veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a separate statement, Sablan thanked\u00a0the 500,000 veterans, their families and friends represented by VoteVets for their endorsement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSupporting our veterans and the men and women actively serving in the military has been a focus of my fifth term in office, now that I am on the House Veterans Affairs Committee,\u201d said Sablan. \u201cI look forward to continue to serve those who serve our nation in every way I can in the years ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sablan is seeking re-election in the November 2018 polls.<\/p>\n<p>Among his goals are a Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outreach clinic with full-time staff to provide medical care in the Marianas, improved mental health services for veterans, and an increased VA presence\u00a0to help Marianas veterans access all the benefits they have earned.<\/p>\n<p>In the VoteVets PAC statement yesterday, it said that, according to his biography, Sablan gained citizenship with an Executive Order of President Ronald Reagan on Nov 4, 1986, \u201clike so many others in the Northern Marianas.\u201d Yet even before becoming a citizen, Sablan had enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves. He completed basic and infantry training, 11B10, at Fort Benning, GA, on March 27, 1982, as an E-3 and was promoted to specialist on Sept. 18, 1982.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Initially assigned to Charlie Company, 100th\/442 Infantry, Sablan joined Echo Company, 100th\/442nd Infantry, when that unit was established in the Northern Marianas. To maintain his Reserve status, he trained at Schofield (Oahu), Pohakalua (Hawaii), and Kahuku (Oahu) Training Ranges. Sablan received his honorable discharge from Army Reserves duty on Nov. 29, 1987.<\/p>\n<p>In Congress, Sablan is a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. In 2017, he obtained a waiver from the usual two-committee rule to serve on Veterans Affairs in response to the need to improve services to veterans living in the Marianas.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 2006, the mission of VoteVets.org Political Action Committee is to elect veterans to public office, with a focus on Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and hold public officials accountable for their words and actions that impact America\u2019s 21st century troops and veterans. Though VoteVets.org PAC is non-partisan, candidates it backs must support VoteVets.org\u2019s core mission and beliefs. <strong>(Saipan Tribune)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VoteVets PAC, the largest progressive group of veterans in America, endorsed the re-election bid of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":266086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8687,5033,496,1394],"class_list":["post-266057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-army-reserves","tag-congressman-sablan","tag-iraq","tag-northern-marianas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}