Melbourne, Australia—On Day 1 of the 2025 Democrats Abroad Global Meeting this past weekend, Democrats Abroad passed by unanimous consent the Veterans and Military Families (VMF) Caucus’s resolution urging Congress for the protection and preservation of Pershing Hall, a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-operated facility in Paris, France. Currently, this historic building, named after General of the Armies “Black Jack” Pershing, no longer functions as a meeting space, memorial, educational center, or museum for U.S. veterans. Instead, VA has evicted veterans from the building and has allowed for the space to be taken over by business entities.
Speaking on behalf of the Global VMF Caucus, Chair Michael Ramos provided the following statement:
“I’d like to sincerely thank our Steering Committee for its strong support, the Resolutions Committee for working with us in improving the draft, and every single Democrats Abroad voting representative who added their name as a cosponsor to VMF’s resolution. Now that the Party’s voting body has adopted it, the next step includes communicating Democrats Abroad’s strong support to Congressional lawmakers for protecting and preserving Pershing Hall.
“And finally, a huge thank you to Anna Marie Mattson, Joe Smallhoover, and others within Democrats Abroad France who have been raising attention to the issue of Pershing Hall for the last several years. These individuals laid the ground work by fighting to restore this incredible building back into the hands of America’s veterans. And now that the 2025 Global Meeting is over, VMF is excited to add Democrats Abroad on record among allies of those also wishing to return Pershing Hall for veterans’ purposes.”
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U.S. citizens living abroad, both civilian and military, are highly encouraged to check their voter registration status and request your ballot for any upcoming elections in your home voting state that you are eligible to vote in.
The VMF Caucus, proudly consisting of veterans, military family members, and strong allies of veterans and military family causes, has a membership of approximately 1,300 members located in dozens of countries.
For questions pertaining to this statement, please reach out to
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