There are some great things happening in the 82nd District in the days and weeks ahead, so let's jump right in and not miss a minute of what's going on.
Rigell Honors Vietnam Veterans 
Virginia 2nd District Congressman
Scott Rigell is hosting an event to honor our Vietnam war veterans on Tuesday, July 1st at the Virginia Beach Convention Center to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Viet Nam war.
The event, held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center will begin at 4:00 PM and continue to 8:00 PM. Congressman Rigell's special guest will be former UPI Reporter
Joe Galloway, who authored the book "
We Were Soldiers Once...and Young" that later became a movie starring Mel Gibson, Sam Elliot and Barry Pepper.
Joe Galloway, a photojournalist for United Press International witnessed the battle of the la Drang Valley from November 14th to November 16th where, outnumbered 7-1, troops of the First Battalion of the U.S. 7th Cavalry valiantly fought almost non-stop against North Vietmam soldiers.
Please join us in honoring all of our veterans from the Vietnam war.
The Medicaid Expansion Debate 
With the passage of the Commonwealth of Virginia's latest budget, it has raised partisan rancor in our legislative and executive branch of state government with Governor McAuliffe stating that he would act unilaterally to expand Medicaid on his own authority.
The problem becomes, in order to do this the Governor would have to spend state tax dollars and under our state constitution, that authority is reserved to the legislative branch of our state government.
Governor McAuliffe stated in a June 24th
PilotOnline story;
"I remain focused on expanding access to health care for Virginia residents, and I intend to move forward on that goal as I have promised."At issue is, the Governor may not have the legal authority to do so.
A legal analysis by Paul D. Clement, a former United States Solicitor General who has argued more Supreme Court cases since 2000 than any lawyer in or out of government, and Erin Murphy, an experienced Supreme Court attorney stated;
"Even if the Governor were to attempt or accomplish that end without the legislative authority the Governor could do so without an appropriation of funds, which the General Assembly may provide. In short, there is simply no constitutional path for the Governor to expand Virginia's Medicaid program without obtaining the requisite authority and appropriation of funds from the General Assembly to do so."Full Report (pdf)
There is a strong possibility that this matter may end up before a court of law and I will give this matter the utmost attention in the days and weeks ahead.
This Week
If you are looking for fireworks, Virginia Beach has a great, family-friendly event at Mount Trashmore on Friday, July 4th from 4:00 to 10:00 PM. There will be plenty of activities for the kids, great food vendors and local favorites "User Friendly" and the 80's cover band "The Deloreans" will be performing on the main stage and at 9:30 Zambelli family will begin the fireworks over the lake. This is one event everyone can enjoy. More Details
On Saturday, July 5th come out and join us at Redwing Park for the Annual Fil-Am Friendship day at Redwing Park from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM.
There will be parades, music, dancing, food and a great slice of Philippine culture shared right here in Virginia Beach. This is always a fun event our friends and neighbors in the Philippine community celebrates with us. This event is free and open to the public, but get there early so you won't miss a thing. More Information
We have a lot of great things happening here in Virginia Beach for the holiday weekend, which might be why Priceline.com ranked Virginia Beach as the 15th best 4th of July travel destination out of 50 other cities that were named.
As always, please don't hesitate to share your thoughts or concerns with me. I can be reached at; [email protected] or (757) 321-8180.
With warmest regards,
