Coleman bill to compensate Simon family approved by Congress
Senator Norm Coleman announced last week that his bill to provide $200,000 to Eric and Brian Simon of Veseli was included in the FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill passed by Congress last week.
Brian (19) and Eric (18), whose father, Doug, contracted HIV/AIDS during treatment for a service-connected injury while on active duty in the National Guard during the early 1980s, will receive the compensation to help them afford a college education and meet expenses.
Coleman called the family Saturday to pass along the news. The boys’ mother, Nancy, and sister, Candace, contracted the disease and later died.
In order to care and support their ill father, Eric and Brian have had to shuttle their father on a regular basis from Veseli to the VA hospital in Minneapolis. These funds will provide Brian and Eric the funds necessary to attend college, a dream they both share, and meet expenses. Because their father has been ill and unable to work, the family does not have the means with which to pay tuition.
Brian and Eric are remarkable young men