{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/mccaskill-bill-to-rename-macon-post-office-in-honor-of-missouri-veteran-arla-harrell-clears-key-committee-hurdle", "McCaskill Bill to Rename Macon Post Office in Honor of Missouri Veteran Arla Harrell Clears Key Committee Hurdle", "2018-09-26", "2018", "2018-09", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "McCaskill Bill to Rename Macon Post Office in Honor of Missouri Veteran Arla Harrell Clears Key Committee Hurdle \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Senator's bill to honor Missouri WWII veteran intentionally exposed to mustard gas moves one step closer to becoming law \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWednesday, September 26, 2018\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill'sbill to namea Missouri post office in honor of Arla Harrella Missouri World War II veteran intentionally exposed to mustard gas by the U.S. militarywas approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today. McCaskill serves as the top-ranking Democrat on the Committee, which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Postal Service.\r\n\r\nI'm glad to see this bill honoring Arla's service to this country get one step closer to becoming law, said McCaskill, the daughter of a World War II veteran. I fought for years to give Arla the chance to hear his government say it believed him, and I'm going to keep working to get this bill across the finish line.\r\n\r\nMcCaskill'sbillwould rename the U.S. Postal Service office located in Macon, Mo. as the Arla W. Harrell Post Office. Mr. Harrell lived in Macon before he passed away earlier this year. Now that McCaskill's bill has been approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, it awaits a vote in the full Senate.\r\n\r\nMcCaskill's previous advocacy on behalf of World War II veterans intentionally exposed to mustard gas by the U.S. military led toPresident Trump signing McCaskill'sArla Harrell Actinto law, which has already resulted in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) granting nearly $2 million in benefits to those World War II veterans.\r\n\r\nFollowing an McCaskill'sinvestigative reportthat demonstrated the VA was denying roughly 90 percent of mustard gas claims between 2005 and 2015, McCaskill battled what shecalleda decades-long record of ineptitude and failure at the VA, enlisted the support ofRepublican and Democratic colleagues, andrallied veterans service organizationsin support of her bill. Shesuccessfully pressured President Trump's first VA SecretaryDavid Shulkin in support of the legislation andmet with President Trump's second VA SecretaryRobert Wilkie during his confirmation process to secure his commitment to swift implementation of theArla Harrell Act.\r\n\r\nVisitmccaskill.senate.gov/veteransto learn more about McCaskill's fight for military veterans.\r\n\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/mccaskill-bill-to-rename-macon-post-office-in-honor-of-missouri-veteran-arla-harrell-clears-key-committee-hurdle"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0983179565519094, "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"}