Congressional delegations head to Normandy commemoration

The weather can be iffy in Normandy this time of year, but the forecast now calls for a beautiful day Friday — partly cloudy and highs around 77 — for the 70th anniversary of the landing that began the drive to liberate Western Europe from the grip of Nazi Germany.

There will be a huge international crowd, with a congressional contingent that will include Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Tex.), who was a U.S. Navy lieutenant during the war and is one of only two WWII veterans in the House. The other is Michigan Democratic Rep. John Dingell. (Since Dingell’s retiring and Hall lost his GOP primary last month, there will be no vets from that war left in the House.)

The nine-member Senate delegation is co-chaired by Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and includes Democratic Sens. Robert Casey (Pa.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.) and Mazie Hirono (Hawaii.), our Capitol Hill colleague Ed O’Keefe tells us. We’ve learned several spouses are going along.

Read the entire piece at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2014/06/04/congressional-delegations-head-to-normandy-commemoration/