ROA Honors Rep. Tom Latham with its Highest Award

WASHINGTON – The Reserve Officers Association will honor Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) with its Minuteman of the Year Award for his contributions to national security and special efforts on behalf of America’s National Guard and Reserve members. ROA will present Latham the award at the association’s National Security Symposium here Jan. 31.

Congressman Tom Latham

“The ROA Minuteman of the Year Award truly is one of the greatest honors I’ve received during my service to Iowans in Congress. I extend my gratitude to the Reserve Officers Association for all the tireless and important advocacy work they do for our citizen-soldiers,” said Latham. “But most importantly, I want to thank the men and women of our armed services who, along with their families, have sacrificed so much for our country and freedom's cause. Their heroism is an inspiration for every American.”

In the 111th Congress, Rep. Latham introduced legislation to remove a fiscal year barrier to existing early retirement statutes permitting full credit for time spend on deployment. He also cosponsored legislation to extend TRICARE coverage to “gray-area” Reserve retirees and worked to make the changes to early retirement retroactive to cover all who served after Sept. 11, 2001. He introduced language to amend title 38, United States code, to provide veterans greater access to health services outside of those offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In previous Congresses, Latham authored and led bipartisan efforts to pass the Guard and Reserve Readiness Retention Act, which allows all Guard and Reserve members to purchase military health coverage for their families under the TRICARE Reserve Select program on a continuous basis, and the National Guard and Reserve Retirement Modernization Act to overhaul reserve retirement. In addition, he led the charge to increase funding and research on treating war injuries to the extremities suffered by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and has supported appropriations legislation that increased funding for VA medical care by 100 percent since 2001.

The Minuteman of the Year Award is presented annually to one who has contributed most to National Security. It is customarily given to a member of the Congress or Executive Branch.

The Reserve Officers Association is the 60,000-member professional association for all uniformed services of the United States. Chartered by Congress and in existence since 1922, ROA advises and educates the Congress, the President, and the American people on national security, with unique expertise on issues that affect the 1.5 million men and women now serving in America’s Reserve Components.