In spite of Memorial Day coming up, President Joe Biden (D) has shut down permits from veteran groups to use government property for coordinated veterans events.
American Veterans (AMVETS), requested to use the Pentagon's parking lot as the staging area for their, "Rolling To Remember Memorial Day," event grounds. AMVETS has been granted permits by every presidential administration, Republican or Democrat in the last 30 years.
AMVETS is a congressionally-chartered veterans service organization that represents the interest of 20 million veterans. This specific event planned would raise awareness to the 82,000 service members who are still missing in action, and the 22 veterans on average that commit suicide each day.
Back in March, the Pentagon's Special Event Team initially sent AMVETS approval to use the property, only to revoke the permission a week later, claiming it was a "routing error."
Most recently, the Department of Defense informed AMVETS that their permit request had officially been denied, but the Biden Administration is the only thing stopping this from going through, as nine state, local, and federal agencies had already approved the permit for this year's event.
AMVETS has many allies that have advocated for them, in particular US Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), who personally wrote a letter to the President, advocating for the veteran group, as he is one himself.
Mast publicly stated, "I would have hoped that President Biden would have more respect for a Memorial Day tradition, which raises awareness to the 82,000 service members who are still missing in actions and that 22 veterans die by suicide each day," adding, "That is why today, I am urging President Biden to reverse his administration's decision and grant Rolling to Remember their permit request to use the Pentagon's parking lot."
