Kaine & Burr Applaud Senate Passage Of Their Bipartisan Resolution Recognizing “Blue Star Welcome Week,” Honoring Military Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), co-chairs of the Senate Family Military Caucus, released the following statement applauding Senate passage of their bipartisan resolution recognizing September 25, 2021 to October 3, 2021 as Blue Star Welcome Week. Welcome Week is a nationwide campaign to build a better sense of belonging and community for military families, many of whom face frequent moves and transfers. Every year, Blue Star Families—the nation's largest nonprofit committed to supporting military-connected families and strengthening communities across our nation—organizes Blue Star Welcome Week to help build strong connections between military-connected families and their civilian neighbors through community engagement, volunteerism, and more. 

“Ensuring that military families feel a strong sense of belonging to their communities is critical to military recruitment, readiness, and retention,” said Senator Kaine. “As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the father of a Marine, I’m proud to have led this effort to help strengthen support for military families. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to these families for their tremendous sacrifices and service to our nation. I will continue working to improve the lives of our servicemembers and their families in Virginia and across the nation.”

“Our men and women in uniform and their families are often faced with frequent moves or transitions away from their hometown communities,” said Senator Burr. “Blue Star Welcome Week recognizes these incredible sacrifices and works to foster greater connections between military families and communities across the nation. I’m honored to work alongside Senator Kaine on this important initiative.”

Every year, approximately 600,000 military families move or transition in or out of military service, generally away from their networks of support. Due to these frequent moves, military lifestyle can be isolating and can be accompanied by depression and mental distress. In fact, only 27% of active-duty family members report they feel a sense of belonging to their local civilian community, according to Blue Star Families’ 2020 Military Family Lifestyle Survey. Less than 1% of the American public has served on active duty at any given time since 9/11, resulting in a decreased understanding between the military and our nation’s broader society.

Specifically, the resolution will:

• Recognize the challenges military-connected families face when they arrive to a new community; and
• Encourage all communities to welcome those families into their neighborhoods.

To read the text for this resolution, click here.