This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 3, 2012 - Tommy Sowers, an Army veteran from Rolla, Mo. who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2010, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sowers’ confirmation vote came this week, almost two weeks after Sowers had appeared before the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee.
Sowers, 36, had been nominated for the post last May by President Barack Obama, and was recommended for the job by U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who formally announced his confirmation Friday.
In her remarks to the Veteran Affairs Committee, McCaskill had said, “The VA needs someone in the highest level that understands today’s veteran and that’s Tommy. I can’t recommend him to this committee, the United States Senate, or the American people more highly.”
Sowers said in a brief Tweet on Thursday: “I'm honored, ready to serve my fellow veterans.”
Sowers, a two-time recipient of the military’s Bronze Star, had served in both Kosovo and Iraq, part of that time as a member of the Army’s special forces. He has taught at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and recently completed his PhD.
In 2010, he attracted a lot of Democratic attention with his aggressive fundraising as he challenged U.S. Rep. JoAnn Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau. Sowers lost, but he gained some Democratic allies in the process.
