 Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to what I'm certain will be an incredibly invigorating week for advocacy for our nation's veterans. I want to thank everyone for the strong show of support this morning. Knowing you were behind me, literally and symbolically gave me the fire to push our elected leaders. Thank you all again. As DAB members, we already know this great organization is at the forefront of getting things done on Capitol Hill. While our collective voice is heard year round, it is never louder than during our annual midwinner conference. This is when our most dedicated members take the fight from their own backyards directly to their representatives front door. Well knock knock, here we are. All of you and many others not in this room today have worked incredibly hard to get to this point. The work begins at the chapter level where resolutions that reflect what's important to you and your community are drafted. Those resolutions eventually make their way to the department level and finally the national level where they're voted on during our annual national convention. Resolutions adopted at convention make up DAV's legislative program for the year and all of the conversations had along the way informed DAV's critical policy goals. Remember, this is your organization. The sounds heard throughout the halls of Congress are the echoes of your voices. That's why it is so important for you to be an active participant in this important process. As your national commander, I had the privilege of meeting with congressional leaders in November to discuss some of our legislative priorities. It's pleasantly surprising how committed and engaged the legislators I met with are. It's clear they take veterans issues seriously and have it in their heart to find solutions to our biggest challenges. Their commitment and yours is how we passed the PACT Act, the most comprehensive toxic exposure legislation in history. But as many of you well know, there's one pestering question often asked of us when advocating for the needs of veterans and their families. How do we pay for it? It's a fair enough question. It is fiscally responsible and necessary to ask. It is not, however, a sound reason for inaction. Part of our role this week is to remind those responsible for sending men and women into harm's way that their obligations only begin there. When they calculate the cost of war, they must remember their sacred duty to the service member, now an ill or injured veteran, and to the family that stands beside them. And there is nothing that excuses those in power from that duty. Thank you. We are headed into a challenging year for veterans advocacy. Less than three years after our withdrawal from Afghanistan, Americans remain eager to move on from war. And with a presidential election unlike any other that will undoubtedly consume headlines, legislators will get distracted. DAV will not. In fact, our advocacy efforts are only ramping up in 2024. Just last week, DAV released a special report entitled Women Veterans, The Journey to Mental Wellness. It is one of the most comprehensive assessments of the unique factors contributing to the staggering rate of suicide among women veterans. A rate that jumped nearly four times higher than the increase among male veterans between 2020 and 2021. The report uncovers the urgent need to improve access to gender specific mental health care within the VA and to increase our understanding of this population's needs. I urge all of you to take a copy of the report with you when visiting your legislators this week or back at home. Be sure to leave it with them and their staffs so they can read it themselves and better understand what action is necessary now. The stakes couldn't be higher. Lives are on the line. We can no longer wait for the VA or Congress to catch up. DAV's national legislative team took that message to congressional leaders and policymakers during a special event last week. We shared some of our more than 50 policy and legislative recommendations aimed at improving mental health care for women veterans. Those recommendations will help lawmakers craft meaningful legislation that can change and even save lives. When that happens, know that it started with you. Ensuring equity in VA care and benefits for historically underserved veterans is one of DAV's critical policy goals based on the conversations that began at the chapter and state levels. You brought those conversations to the national level as resolutions. You spoke to your representatives and they introduced legislation. Some bills have already turned into laws and those laws have turned into real world benefits for many who served. Throughout our more than 100 year history, we've celebrated countless legislative victories for veterans and their families. We can and should be proud of our accomplishments, but we cannot rest. Keeping our sacred promise to veterans isn't just a lifetime or generational commitment. It is our duty for as long as we are a country. The endless onslaught of bad news might have you worried that our days are numbered, but I'm optimistic. After all, we did survive Y2K. In all seriousness, we must stay vigilant. The evolving landscape of war, the changing demographics of our armed forces, fraught political environments, rapid advances in technology, and the many risks service members face demand constant advocacy. Even the PACT Act, an undeniable milestone victory for toxic exposed veterans, requires that we keep pushing too many veterans, including those who were exposed to a litany of toxins while serving at Karshi-Kananabad Air Base in Uzbekistan were left out of the PACT Act. We are actively working on addressing these gaps and we need you to urge your representatives to fill them. The Major Richard Star Act introduced in Congress last year would allow combat disabled veterans with fewer than 20 years of service to concurrently collect retirement pay without reduction in their VA disability compensation. This bill would end the practice of effectively penalizing military retirees whose service is cut short by disability. Let's make 2024 the year this bill becomes law. The Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act would expand access to home and community-based long-term care options for aging veterans. Let's remind our legislators of our nation's lifetime obligation to veterans and their families and please hurry, some of us in this room need care sooner rather than later. Not me of course, I'm ageless. Women veterans, toxic exposures, long-term care, and expanding VA's capacity to deliver timely high-quality care. These are just some of the issues you will be discussing with your representatives this week and after you return home. We are here to help you prepare for these important meetings. I urge you to attend the Benefits Protection Team Legislative Workshop. The National Legislative Director Joy Elam and her team will go over DAV's 2024 legislative priorities and critical policy goals. So please listen, take notes, and ask questions. The better informed you are, the better you can advocate for your fellow veteran. But don't forget that your value isn't just in how well-spoken you are or how well you know the issues. Your greatest power is your story. I encourage you to share your personal experiences, help your representatives put a face to these issues. When we do that, we help them understand what's really at stake. We remind them who they are working for and to whom they must uphold their promise. I look forward to fighting the good fight alongside you this week. If I pass you in the halls or the hotel lobby and smile, it's not out of politeness, it's pride. When I see all of us gathered here, I'm comforted knowing that we are united in a shared mission. I feel relief knowing my brothers and sisters are advocating for me and for all of us. That kind of camaraderie is special, second only to the camaraderie of military service. Never lose sight of that. We are the best advocates for past, present and future generations of veterans. They depend on us. As I look around this room, I'm confident all of you will answer the call. Thank you all for being here. Thank you all for being such devoted advocates and enjoy the rest of the conference.