'He will be missed': How RI's veteran community found a surprising ally in David Cicilline

With Congressman David Cicilline’s impending resignation, his constituency of R.I. veterans will lose a strong and vocal champion in Washington. 

Cicilline’s high national profile as a liberal on gun control, abortion and support for LGBTQ issues often overshadows his unwavering support for America’s servicemen and women.

His avid support of nonviolence might mask that he is one of our strongest proponents on issues that affect veterans and families.

Full disclosure: due to my involvement in multiple veteran-related causes, I have served as a member of Congressman Cicilline’s Veterans Advisory Council since his campaign in 2010.

While that may bias my opinion, it has also allowed me to observe the amount of time, energy and political capital he has invested on behalf of veterans.

I am not alone in thinking his veteran credentials have flown under the radar.  According to Dora Vasquez-Hellner, past state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, “His door has always been open to discuss any of our concerns. I am sad to see him vacate this position.”

2010: transition year

In February 2010 Congressman Patrick Kennedy dropped a political bombshell, saying he would not run for re-election. Within days, Providence Mayor David Cicilline announced his candidacy.

During his campaign, Cicilline sought support from what many considered to be an unlikely constituency: Veterans, and by extension our serving military. He enlisted local veteran advocates and leaders of veteran organizations to help craft a veterans platform.

Like many of my fellow veterans, I was skeptical at first. Born on the south side of Providence, he was the first openly gay mayor of any U.S. state capital and was well-known as an outspoken, progressive liberal.

His Republican opponent that year was John Loughlin, a well-respected career military officer who appeared initially to hold an edge among veterans.

But Cicilline developed and launched what he called the “Cicilline Plan for Veterans,” and took it for a test drive at several roundtable discussions. He listened to suggestions about improving services to veterans.

During one meeting at St. Joseph Hall in Woonsocket he said, “Our veterans deserve nothing but our full support and appreciation for all the incredible sacrifices they have made while serving our country. Rhode Island has an especially strong veterans community and I would be proud to be a strong advocate for them if I am fortunate enough to be elected to Congress.”

More:Millions in public grants go to the RI Foundation. Will it change with Cicilline in charge?

More:With Cicilline stepping down, who might run for RI's 1st Congressional District seat?

Bill Sheridan of North Providence recalls a similar meeting in Cumberland. “Many of the veterans were initially hostile, but he hung in there to the end and showed he had a grasp of veteran issues.”

After winning, the newly-minted Congressman did not forget his campaign promises. From his very first month in office, he began fighting for issues important to veterans and he has not let up since.

In July 2011 he established a veterans advisory group, which continues to offer counsel and direction to this day.

Battles Cicilline fought for veterans

Early on, he co-sponsored a package of bills to help clear the inexcusable backlog of VA benefit claims. (In 2013, that backlog numbered in the hundreds of thousands. His efforts helped to systematically reform the VA system would never happen again.)

Cicilline also made it a priority to close the loophole that allowed employers to avoid giving jobs back to service members returning from deployments. He was a prime mover behind an act that banned mandatory arbitration agreements circumventing veteran job rights.

He also helped lead the fight to ensure 24-hour staffing for the Veterans Crisis Line, a suicide hotline established in 2007.

Also, he has been a strong proponent of the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act and similar initiatives designed to expand educational opportunities for veterans.

Successes within the past year

Cicilline helped push through the House version of the Vet Center Improvement Act, which Senator Reed initially introduced in the Senate. The bill improves staffing and hiring practices at VA Vet Centers nationwide.

The PACT Act, which will make healthcare available to more than 3.5 million veterans exposed to toxic substances, was another Cicilline priority.

Standing up for veterans on the home front 

In 2016 he joined Arizona Republican colleague and Warwick native Congresswoman Martha McSally in a promotional video supporting our efforts to bring the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy to Narragansett Bay as a world-class family attraction, museum, and job training facility.

For years, Cicilline has participated in the national "Valentines for Veterans" project. Local school children prepare cards each year, and he has distributed thousands to veterans at the VA Medical Center and the Veterans Home.

Last Aug. 15, some 120 people attended his 5th Annual Community Conversation for Veterans and Their Families at Pawtucket’s Slater Park at which he updated attendees on his veterans activity.

He seldom misses a sendoff for troops going on deployment, or a Yellow Ribbon event to welcome them home. Cicilline has taken this personal contact commitment to another level, however, with his Christmas visits to our service members in war zones. In 2015 he spent the holiday with 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers in Iraq.

In 2017 he spent Christmas with troops in Afghanistan. In 2019 it was Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. After a 3-year COVID hiatus, Cicilline returned in December 2022.

R.I. veterans are fortunate to have a congressional delegation that is very supportive in general of issues affecting them. Occasions when they are not unanimous on such issues are rare, and this is largely due to Senator Jack Reed’s leadership.

However, it has been my experience that Congressman Cicilline has gone the extra mile, especially on low profile, less visible and matters that might be deemed lower priority. “I agree 1000%,” said Joe "Tiger" Patrick II, the new VFW State Commander from Post 916 in Wakefield. “We will miss him.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rep. David Cicilline was a surprising ally for RI's veteran community