SALEM — An Oregon House committee approved a trio of bills on Thursday, April 22, that honor military veterans.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Dick Tobiason, of the Bend Heroes Foundation, testified in the virtual hearing in support of the bills.

“We appreciate your work,” Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, chair of the House Committee on Veterans and Emergency Management, told Tobiason.

The bills have all passed the Senate and after the House committee approval go to the House floor for final passage, then to Gov. Kate Brown to sign into law.

Senate Bill 790 approves naming the Oregon portion of U.S. Highway 30 as the Oregon Veterans Memorial Highway. The highway runs from Astoria to Portland, then west through Hermiston, Pendleton, La Grande and Baker City before leaving the state near Ontario on the Idaho border.

Senate Bill 319 would dedicate an area in the State Capitol State Park for a Vietnam War memorial to be paid for and built using funds from a nonprofit corporation.

Senate Bill 441 modifies the criteria for erecting roadside memorial signs for deceased veterans to include former prisoners of war and missing in action previously unaccounted for, but whose remains have been discovered in recent years.