Yesterday, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop (D-GA), co-chair of the Congressional Military Family Caucus and Ranking Member of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies was joined by co-chair Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), staff from over twenty Congressional offices, officials from the Department of Defense and Fort Benning, representatives from military service organizations, and over 100 military family and service members at the annual Congressional Military Family Caucus Summit at the National Infantry Museum near Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia.
 
“Personal experiences in my family, my constituent’s families, and military families from across the United States have taught me that our service members and their families serve our nation and sacrifice together,” said Congressman Bishop. “Our military families are impacted in countless ways – seen and unseen – and we have an obligation to do right by them.”
 
"It's my honor to participate again in this annual summit to hear from military families. Through these events we’ve addressed critical issues that uniquely challenge military families, including mental health, Wounded Warrior support, health care, military spouse employment, multiple deployments, and education,” said Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers. “As we work to create a military for the 21st Century, we need to also embrace forward-looking, technology-driven solutions to help support our military families—from making it easier to transfer medical records when families PCS to a new duty station to working to connect spouses with employment opportunities. I'd like to thank Congressman Bishop for his continued collaboration and leadership on these critical issues."
 
“All too often, the tremendous hardships military families must endure, are endured in silence. But not today,” concluded Congressman Bishop.
 
The Summit serves as a direct channel between the Caucus and military families. Held by the CMFC annually, the Summit works to connect military families with Members of Congress, the Department of Defense, and private sector groups to discuss the challenges and pressing issues impacting America’s servicemen and their families as well as offer resources. Led by three panels of experts, discussed subjects included healthcare, spousal employment, benefits, and transition out of the military.
 
The CMFC is a bipartisan congressional caucus that educates elected officials, congressional staffers, senior military leaders and the public on a wide range of unique issues that affect military families. Currently, over 80 Democrats and Republicans are members of the CMFC.