{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://ciscomani.house.gov/media/press-releases/ciscomani-launches-veterans-advisory-council", "Ciscomani Launches Veterans Advisory Council", "2023-08-31", "2023", "2023-08", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "Juan Ciscomani", "C001133", "ciscomani.house.gov", "ciscomani", "https://ciscomani.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "TUCSON, Ariz. \u2013 U.S. Congressman Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06), a member of the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, launched his new Veterans Advisory Council yesterday. The group, chaired by Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd (Ret.), is comprised of veterans from the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Navy, along with other stakeholders from the military community.\n\nDuring the council\u2019s inaugural meeting, they identified specific areas of focus, which include veterans\u2019 transition into civilian life, access to housing, mental health and suicide prevention, and workforce and education opportunities. Ciscomani also shared a legislative update on his work in Congress for veterans and the group discussed ways to expand upon it to deliver more solutions for Arizona\u2019s veterans.\n\n\"During my short time in office, I have consistently heard about the unique challenges that our veterans face, from the backlogs at the VA to the difficulty of adjusting to civilian life,\u201d said Ciscomani, whose district is home to over 70,000 veterans. \u201cI formed this group to be a results-oriented platform that will allow me to be consistently attuned to the concerns of our veterans, specifically regarding their transition out of uniform, veteran homelessness, mental health and suicide prevention, and education opportunities. The individuals on this council bring with them decades of experience and I look forward to working with them to provide for their fellow veterans.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Veterans Advisory Council has been charged with making our veterans\u2019 lives better, which we will do by focusing on the things that they need and giving recommendations to the congressman that he can relay to Congress,\u201d said Maj. Gen. Shepperd.\n\nThe council includes:\n\nDon Shepperd, U.S. Air Force and Chair of the Veterans Advisory Council\n\nTom Davis, U.S. Army\n\nNick Franco, U.S. Marine Corps veteran\n\nBen Buehler Garcia, Host of American Warrior Radio\n\nAllen Kinnison, U.S. Air Force veteran\n\nYoung Mayberry, U.S. Air Force\n\nMayor Clea McCaa, U.S. Army veteran and Mayor of Sierra Vista\n\nGeorge Murga, U.S. Navy veteran\n\nTom Murphy, U.S. Air Force veteran and Mayor of Sahuarita\n\nCody Nichols, U.S. Army veteran\n\nJane Strain, U.S. Army veteran\n\nBob Wells, U.S. Navy veteran\n\nAlex Wright, U.S. Air Force veteran", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:30:18Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://ciscomani.house.gov/media/press-releases/ciscomani-launches-veterans-advisory-council"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7406119257211685, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}