Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) was presented with the Distinguished Public Service Award, the Navy’s highest civilian honor, during a ceremony on Jan. 4.

Award recipients are recognized for courageous or heroic acts or outstanding service of benefit to the Navy or Marine Corps. Rear Admiral Craig Faller presented Larsen with the award in a ceremony in Larsen’s Washington, D.C. office.

“This is a great honor and I really appreciate it,” said Larsen, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. “I want to thank Secretary Mabus and the Navy-Marine Corps team who are out there right now, every day and into the future protecting all of us.”

Larsen has been a consistent champion for the U.S. military, servicemembers and veterans.

“This award was presented to recognize Representative Larsen’s tremendous support for our Sailors and Marines and his forceful advocacy for the resources needed to maintain a strong Navy and Marine Corps,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. “We are fortunate to have such a dedicated leader in Congress.”

Larsen successfully fought to keep open the Women, Infants and Children office on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island – which hundreds of military families rely on for food assistance. He also secured language in the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act to allow Women, Infants and Children offices to operate on all military bases throughout the country.

Additionally, Larsen has advocated for a strong Navy presence in Everett, Washington. Larsen worked to bring three new destroyers to replace decommissioned frigates at Naval Station Everett and pushed the Navy to avoid a gap between retiring the frigates and the new destroyers.

In 2015, Larsen pressed the Department of Veterans Affairs to change the Veterans Choice Program to better meet the needs of veterans in the Pacific Northwest. Many Whidbey veterans are now eligible for local health care instead of facing a hours-long drive across Deception Pass to Mount Vernon or a having to take a ferry to Seattle to reach a VA doctor. In September of 2016, Larsen succeeded in helping circumvent a 1992 ban on the VA providing in vitro fertilization services for veterans – which had previously forced veterans with service-connected infertility to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket.