Cortez Masto Delivers Remarks at Dedication of Nevada’s First National Veterans’ Cemetery in Elko

***VIDEO AVAILABLE*** FTPs for TV stations is available here . Elko, Nev. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) delivered remarks at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dedication ceremony for Nevada’s first national veterans cemetery in Elko. Senator Cortez Masto worked across three presidential administrations to get this project to completion. Senator Cortez Masto was instrumental in the approval of this rural national cemetery, working with Presidents Trump and Biden to ensure Nevada veterans finally got the local cemetery they’d waited decades for. In 2020, she introduced legislation to create the cemetery and then secured a commitment from the Trump Administration that they would move forward with the site. In the years since, she has consistently pushed the VA for transparency in the timeline of its construction. Today marks the culmination of six years of the Senator’s work. Below are her remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you for that kind introduction, Gil. If you couldn’t tell from his story, Gil is part of the reason we’re here today. He’s done incredible work representing Nevadans in the VFW over the years, and he was one of the first people to let me know about the need for a veterans cemetery in Elko. And now here we are, at the opening of the VA’s 158 th national cemetery! I want to thank my fellow speakers – Governor Lombardo, Congressman Amodei, and Under Secretary Brown – as well as the Veterans Service Organizations for their work to ensure this moment finally arrived for our veterans and their families. I’d also like to recognize the representatives from the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone and thank them for their prayers and blessings today. As we all know, this day has been decades in the making. Before today, the closest national cemetery for veterans in the Elko area was Snake River Canyon National Cemetery in Idaho – 169 miles away. That’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive on a good day to visit your loved ones. Now, I come from a family of service members. My father was in the U.S. Army, and he was stationed in Korea after the war. Both my grandfathers also served in the Army, and my great-uncle was on the beaches of Normandy. I can’t imagine having to be so far away from the places they’re buried. The service members in my family taught me important lessons about duty and patriotism. They taught me that we owe so much to those who defend our freedoms. This cemetery is no less than what veterans in the Elko area are owed for their service. President John F. Kennedy once said that a nation reveals itself not only by the people it produces, but also by the people it honors and remembers. I want Nevada to be a state that honors and remembers the men and women who answered a higher calling to fight for our country. So when Gil and other advocates told me that the efforts to build a national cemetery in Elko had stalled, I made securing the project a priority. And it was important for it to be a national cemetery, as opposed to a state cemetery, so it would be run by the VA at no cost to Nevadans. I hosted several meetings with local veterans and the VA to make sure the needs of Nevada’s veterans were met. I wrote legislation to keep the ball rolling on the project, and I worked across the aisle – and with presidents of both parties – to make this dream for our veterans a reality. And I am so proud to be here today to officially dedicate Nevada’s first national veterans cemetery. To again use the words of President Kennedy, this cemetery is about revealing who we are as a state and as a nation. The men and women who will be buried and memorialized here represent the best of us. They sacrificed their comforts and time with their families so we could keep ours. Their service allows the rest of us to enjoy the freedoms we so often take for granted. And we will never forget their commitment to our country. We remember our veterans by telling their stories to our children. We remember them by naming schools after them, like Reed High School in Sparks, named for World War II veteran Edward Reed Jr. And perhaps most importantly, we remember our veterans by going beyond words. By listening to their needs. By taking action at all levels of government to ensure they and their families get the peace of mind they’ve earned. With this cemetery, we reveal that Nevada is grateful for the men and women who put their lives on the line for our country. That we are willing to put in the work to honor their service. And that we will celebrate their bravery for generations. Thank you. ###