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(Washington, DC) William Cahill, a top aide to U.S. Senator Larry Craig, was honored Wednesday by the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a national veterans organization with over 36,000 members. Cahill was selected as the top legislative assistant on Capitol Hill.

Tom Poulter, National Commander of the Purple Heart organization, said Cahill had been chosen for his exemplary service while serving as the chief counsel and health care policy advisor to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

"Mr. Cahill has worked tirelessly on behalf of veterans. His commitment to veterans is second to none," Poulter said.

[For pictures, see: 2007 - Feb 7 - Cahill Purple Heart Recognition.]

The award came as a surprise to Cahill, who thought he had been summoned to attend a regular staff briefing with Senator Craig. "I'm just shaking. My heart is pounding. It is an honor to receive this award from those who have been wounded in the cause of freedom," Cahill said.

"It was great to see the look on Billy's face when he suddenly realized that the veterans in the room were there to honor him. It is recognition well deserved. I'm very pleased to have him working for me," said Craig, who serves as the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Cahill began his political career working in the House of Representatives for Representatives Joel Hefley (R-CO) and Constance Morella (R-MD). He then joined the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee as a legislative correspondent for the Committee's Special Investigation Unit on Persian Gulf War Illnesses in 1997. He began working for the full Committee in 1998 and has remained on the staff since that time.

He was promoted to the chief counsel position on the Committee last year when then-chief counsel Bill Tuerk was chosen by President Bush to serve as the Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Cahill is a 1996 graduate of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a 2003 graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center. He is a native of Collingswood, New Jersey, and currently resides in Severna Park, Maryland, with his wife Courtney and son Liam.

The Cahill family is not new to Capitol Hill. Bill's grandfather, William T. Cahill, served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives (1959-70) and then as Governor of New Jersey (1970-74).

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