Bills honoring veterans headed to House for final vote

Published 10:00 am Thursday, April 22, 2021

A trio of bills honoring military veterans were approved Thursday by the House Committee on Veterans and Emergency Management.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Dick Tobiason of the Bend Heroes Foundation testified in the virtual hearing in support of the bills.

“We appreciate your work,” Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, chair of the committee, told Tobiason.

The bills have all passed the Senate and after the House committee approval go to the House floor for final passage, then to Gov. Brown to sign into law.

SB 790  approves the naming the portion of U.S. Highway 30 as the Oregon Veterans Memorial Highway. The highway runs from Astoria to Portland, then west through Hermiston, Pendleton, La Grande and Baker City before leaving the state near Ontario on the Idaho border.

SB 319 would dedicate an area in the State Capitol State Park for a Vietnam War memorial to funded and built using funds from a non-profit corporation.

SB 441 modifies the criteria for erecting roadside memorial signs for deceased veterans to include former prisoners of war and missing in action previously unaccounted for, but whose remains have been discovered in recent years.