The American Legion Washington DC Office- Hot Issues - April 1st, 2014


HOT ISSUES
Tuesday, April1, 2014
ACTIONS –
Veterans Benefits Administration –                 
  • On Tuesday, April 1, 2014, The American Legion’s Regional Office Action Review team will be conducting a Town Hall meeting at American Legion Post 41 located at 715 S. 2nd Avenue in Phoenix, AZ 85003 for veterans to discuss how the Phoenix Regional Benefit Office is reducing the backlog and improving the claims process.
 
  • From April 2-4, 2014, The American Legion’s Regional Office Action Review team will be visiting the Phoenix Regional Benefit Office and meet with VA Regional Office administrators and employees to see what they are doing to reduce the backlog, how they are staffed, and how new technology is being used to improve the process.
 
Veterans Health Administration –
  • On Monday March 24, 2014, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs launched the VA Honesty Project, a new web component ofVeterans.House.Gov designed to highlight the Department of Veterans Affairs’ lack of transparency with the press, and by extension the public. Because the Department of Veterans Affairs is a taxpayer funded organization, it has a responsibility to fully explain itself to the press and the public. Unfortunately, in many cases, VA is failing in this responsibility, as department officials – including 54 full-time public affairs employees – routinely ignore media inquiries.
 
  • The VA Honesty Project documents nearly 70 recent instances in which VA has failed to respond to reporters’ requests for information or refused to answer specific questions. The department’s apparent disregard for the press has become an object of reporters’ scorn, leading some to openly accuse VA of “thumbing their nose at us” and others to write entire articles focusing on VA’s stonewallingtactics. VA Honesty Project will be continually updated with new examples of VA refusing to respond to the press as they arise. The site can be visited here: http://veterans.house.gov/VAHonestyProject.
 
  • On Friday March 28, 2014, it was reported that the Dover VA Clinic now has a location. The Dover Veterans Administration Clinic, which will cease operating out of the Stewart County Community Medical Center on April 30, will re-open at a different location on or around May 1. The new location is on Tennessee Highway 49 in Dover, about a mile and a half from the center of town, in the former For Your Family Health Care building. According to Stewart County Mayor Rick Joiner, a contract has already been signed that allows the new provider to begin renovations, which are underway.
Veterans assigned to the clinic will be contacted by mail as to the new facility, which plans to serve patients Monday-Thursday, 10 hours per day.
 
  • On Sunday March 30, 2014, the Washington Post released an article that discusses how more than half of the 2.6 million Americans dispatched to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan struggle with physical or mental health problems stemming from their service, feel disconnected from civilian life and believe the government is failing to meet the needs of this generation’s veterans, according to a poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The long conflicts, which have required many troops to deploy multiple times and operate under an almost constant threat of attack, have exacted a far more widespread emotional toll than previously recognized by most government studies and independent assessments: One in two say they know a fellow service member who has attempted or committed suicide, and more than 1 million suffer from relationship problems and experience outbursts of anger — two key indicators of post-traumatic stress.
With Resolution No. 285: Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Programs, The American Legion believes that DOD/VA should accelerate research efforts to properly diagnose and develop evidence-based treatments for TBI/PTSD; and urges Congress to exercise oversight over DOD/VA to ensure servicemembers and veterans are only prescribed evidence-based treatments for TBI/PTSD and not prescribed off-label and non-Federal Drug Administration approved medications or treatments for TBI/PTSD.
 
  • On Wednesday, April 2, 2014 VA&R Staff will be attending the HVAC Hearing regarding “VA & Human Tissue: Improvements Needed for Veterans Safety.”
 
  • On Thursday, April 3, 2014 VA &R Staff will be attending the HVAC Hearing regarding “Trials in Transparency II: Is VA Responding to Congressional Requests in a Timely Manner?”
 
National Cemetery Administration –
  • On Saturday March 22, 2014, it was reported that crew members of a C-123 Provider aircraft that crashed after it was struck by enemy fire while resupplying the U.S. Special Forces camp at Bu Prang, Vietnam were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery nearly 50 years after their plane was shot down during the Vietnam War in October of 1964. The crew members included: Air Force Capt. Valmore W. Bourque, Air Force 1st Lt. Robert G. Armstrong, Air Force Staff Sgt. Ernest J. Halvorson, Air Force Staff Sgt. Theodore B. Phillips, Air Force Airman 1st Class Eugene Richardson, Army Pfc. Charles P. Sparks, and Army Staff Sgt. Lawrence Woods.
According to Resolution No. 78:POW/MIA Policies, The American Legion remains steadfast in our commitment to the goal of achieving the fullest possible accounting for all U.S. military personnel and designated civilian personnel missing and unaccounted for from our nation’s wars.
 
  • On Tuesday, April 1, Legislative staff is working with both House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs staff to examine the possibility of legislation to help transform the appeals process in a similar manner to the Fully Developed Claims (FDC) process that The American Legion took the lead in developing for VA.
 
  • Also on April 1, Legislative staff will meet with Mr. Jay Killackey, Executive Vice President of the National Association of Postal Supervisors, to discuss submission of an application for a stamp to commemorate The American Legion’s 100th anniversary to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee. 
 
 
  • Also on April 1, Legislative and Veterans Employment & Education staff will meet with staff from the office of Rep. Diane Titus (CA) to discuss H.R. 4184, a bill which would allow veterans using their GI Bill to draw one advance payment per academic year to cover expenses, to be charged against their final month of benefits.
 
 
  • On Wednesday, April 2, Legislative Division staff will attend a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support. The hearing will address military construction subjects and base closure programs.
 
 
  • Also on April 2, Legislative staff – in conjunction with VA&R staff – will attend a hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee entitled “VA & Human Tissue: Improvements Needed for Veterans Safety.”
 
 
  • Also on April 2, Legislative staff will attend a hearing of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. The subpanel will examine the Defense Health Agency within the FY 2015 budget.
 
 
  • Also on April 2, Legislative staff will attend a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. The subpanel will discuss the FY 2015 budget of the Department of Defense generally and the Department of the Army in particular.
 
 
  • Also on April 2, Legislative and VE & E staff will meet with Keith Howard, Military Legislative Assistant to Rep. Beto O'Rourke (TX) to discuss a variety of veterans’ issues.
 
 
  • On Thursday, April 3, members of the Legislative staff will attend a hearing by the House Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee to markup FY 2015 appropriations legislation under the subpanel’s jurisdiction.
 
 
  • Also on April 3, members of the Legislative staff will attend a House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing to examine FY 2015 appropriations for National Guard and Army Reserve.
 
 
  • Also on April 3, Legislative staff will attend a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee to receive testimony on the posture of the Department of the Army in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2015 and the Future Years Defense Program.
 
 
  • Also on April 3, Legislative staff – in conjunction with VA&R staff – will attend a hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee entitled “Trials in Transparency II: Is VA Responding to Congressional Requests in a Timely Manner?”
 
 
  • Also on April 3, Legislative staff will participate in a press conference at 11:30 a.m. with House Speaker John Boehner (OH) and HVAC Chairman Jeff Miller (FL), addressing VA Accountability issues and pending legislation. The event will take place in the Rayburn Room of the U.S. Capitol.
 
 
  • On Tuesday April 8, the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity will mark up a slate of bills. The docket includes a number of pieces of legislation on which The American Legion testified during a March 25th legislative hearing.
 
 
  • Legislative Staff is working with VA&R staff to prepare written and oral testimony for a hearing on APR 9 before the full HVAC committee. The hearing is entitled “A Continued Assessment of Delays in VA Medical Care and Preventable Veteran Deaths” and focuses on patient safety issues which have surfaced at several VA healthcare facilities over the past few years.
 
 
  • Legislative staff will meet with staff from Rep. Nick Rahall’s (WV) office to update H.R. 2841, the Guard and Reserve Access to Health Care Act. They will also discuss the possibility of including language from that measure as a provision in FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.
 
 
 
POW/MIA
  • Yesterday Secretary Hagel held a press briefing on proposed changes to the DOD POW/MIA accounting mission.   His main recommendations include:
Creating a new, single DOD agency that will have full responsibility for carrying out the personnel accounting mission -- JPAC and DPMO will no longer exist in their current iteration.  This new agency will be headed by a senior presidential appointee and answer to the USD/Policy. 
  • Realign accounting appropriations into a single budget.
  • Create a centralized database of recovery and archival information.
  • Foster public/private partnerships to leverage new technology to help identify remains.
  • Create a single point of contact where families can access all information.
Staff will be attending another meeting later this week with ASD Lumpkin, who is spearheading the implementation.
 
Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission
  • The MCRMC continues to hold meetings throughout the country.  Below is a list of upcoming hearings:
April 9-10, 2014 - Executive Session, Arlington, VA
May 7-8, 2014 - Executive Session, Arlington, VA
May 21-22, 2014 - MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, FL
The Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission was established to conduct a review of military compensation and retirement systems and to make recommendations to modernize such systems. The Commission is tasked to submit a report, containing a comprehensive study and recommendations, by May 1, 2014 to the President of the United States and Congress. The report will contain detailed findings and conclusions of the Commission, together with its recommendations for such legislation and administrative actions it may consider appropriate in light of the results of the study.
 
USO Ribbon Cutting
  • Today staff will be attending the ribbon cutting ceremony for the USO Warrior and Family Center at NSA Bethesda. The Warrior and Family Centers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. will offer a caring environment where the healing that has begun can accelerate. The new facility will be a place of respite and recreation, a peaceful environment to bring family together and an opportunity to prepare for a happy and fulfilling life ahead. Men and women dealing with the aftermath of combat will be able to embrace their roles as parents and spouses and learn how to reunite as a family in the face of change. On the challenging journey toward recovery, these Centers will be important structures to help build hope and confidence.
 
 
UPCOMING HEARINGS-                                                                                   
April 2, 2014.  Hearing Topic: VA & Human Tissue: Improvements Needed for Veterans Safety
April 3, 2014.   Hearing Topic: Trials in Transparency II: Is VA Responding to Congressional Requests in a Timely Manner?

 The American Legion Department of Michigan represents over 70,000 members in the State of Michigan. The American Legion was founded in 1919, based on “The Four Pillars”; veteran rehabilitation, Americanism, child welfare, and national security and continued above all its mission as a consumers’ advocate for veterans. For more information contact the Michigan Legion at 517-371-4720 ext 16, mark@michiganlegion.org, or visit our website at www.michiganlegion.org.

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