{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cortez-masto-delivers-remarks-at-dedication-of-nevadas-first-national-veterans-cemetery-in-elko/", "Cortez Masto Delivers Remarks at Dedication of Nevada\u2019s First National Veterans\u2019 Cemetery in Elko", "2026-09-04", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "NV", "Catherine Cortez Masto", "C001113", "www.cortezmasto.senate.gov", "cortezmasto", "https://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "***VIDEO AVAILABLE***\n\nFTPs for TV stations is available here.\n\nElko, Nev. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) delivered remarks at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dedication ceremony for Nevada\u2019s first national veterans cemetery in Elko. Senator Cortez Masto worked across three presidential administrations to get this project to completion.\n\nSenator 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\u2019d 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\u2019s work.\n\nBelow are her remarks as prepared for delivery:\n\nThank you for that kind introduction, Gil.\n\nIf you couldn\u2019t tell from his story, Gil is part of the reason we\u2019re here today. He\u2019s 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.\n\nAnd now here we are, at the opening of the VA\u2019s 158th national cemetery!\n\nI want to thank my fellow speakers \u2013 Governor Lombardo, Congressman Amodei, and Under Secretary Brown \u2013 as well as the Veterans Service Organizations for their work to ensure this moment finally arrived for our veterans and their families.\n\nI\u2019d also like to recognize the representatives from the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone and thank them for their prayers and blessings today.\n\nAs we all know, this day has been decades in the making.\n\nBefore today, the closest national cemetery for veterans in the Elko area was Snake River Canyon National Cemetery in Idaho \u2013 169 miles away. That\u2019s a two-and-a-half-hour drive on a good day to visit your loved ones.\n\nNow, 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.\n\nI can\u2019t imagine having to be so far away from the places they\u2019re buried.\n\nThe 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.\n\nPresident 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.\n\nSo 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.\n\nI hosted several meetings with local veterans and the VA to make sure the needs of Nevada\u2019s veterans were met. I wrote legislation to keep the ball rolling on the project, and I worked across the aisle \u2013 and with presidents of both parties \u2013 to make this dream for our veterans a reality. And I am so proud to be here today to officially dedicate Nevada\u2019s first national veterans cemetery.\n\nTo again use the words of President Kennedy, this cemetery is about revealing who we are as a state and as a nation.\n\nThe 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.\n\nWe remember our veterans by telling their stories to our children.\n\nWe remember them by naming schools after them, like Reed High School in Sparks, named for World War II veteran Edward Reed Jr.\n\nAnd 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\u2019ve earned.\n\nWith 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.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-05T08:49:07Z", "2026-09-05T08:50:44Z"]], "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://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cortez-masto-delivers-remarks-at-dedication-of-nevadas-first-national-veterans-cemetery-in-elko/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8177720010280609, "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"}