VFW WASHINGTON WEEKLY - Sept. 28, 2007
Sep. 28, 2007 at 12:31 PM
by Blogmaster
In This Issue:
1. Congress Fails to Pass On-Time VA Budget
2. House VA Committee Hearings
3. Senate Holds Hearing on Gulf War Illness
4. Iraq
5. House Passes Family Leave Act
1. Congress Fails To Pass On-Time VA Budget
As they have for the better part of a decade, Congress has failed to pass an on-time budget for VA. The government’s new fiscal year begins on October 1, and instead of pressing forward on the VA Appropriations bill, each chamber has passed a stopgap funding measure while will fund VA and the rest of the government through November 16th. This means that, in the short term, VA will be funded on last year’s level – a level that does not account for the growing numbers of veterans seeking care. The stopgap budget they have approved is roughly $6.7 billion less than what Congress itself has decided what VA needs, and will hamper VA’s efforts to recruit and retain the highest quality doctors, nurses and health care professionals. It will also delay VA’s ability to hire and train disability compensation claims processors, impairing VA’s ability to manage the ever-growing backlog.
This past week, VFW let Congress know that we expect them to approve the budget on-time. The differences between the House and Senate versions are negligible, and the bipartisan support for the bill would ensure its success if it had come up for a vote. Congressional leaders, however, decided to use the broad support for it to attach less politically popular provisions, turning it into a large omnibus bill and delaying its passage.
The VFW calls on Congress to end the political games and do what is right for this nation’s veterans, especially those wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. We urge all VFW members, and any concerned veterans’ advocates you know to call your Congressman and Senators, to tell them to immediately pass the VA budget. This nation’s 24 million veterans are looking to them to do the right thing.
2. House VA Committee Hearings
The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee had another busy week of hearings.
On Tuesday, the VFW testified before the Subcommittee on Veterans’ Disability and Memorial Affairs regarding the Board of Veterans Appeals and the Appeal Management Center (AMC). The oversight hearing examined what efforts are being made by VA to manage the backlog of claims and reduce the length and time of appeals. VFW testified that VA needs on–time funding to be able to hire and retain adjudicators and enlist a training system that emphasizes quality not quantity to avoid high error rates. We also believe that the AMC would better serve veterans if moved outside the DC area.
To read our testimony go to: http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations also held a hearing on Tuesday, examining the VA’s Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers (PRC). The hearing focused on three specific PRC located in Richmond, Virginia, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Palo Alto, California and the level of care wounded servicemembers are receiving at the centers. The PRC offers a continuum of acute rehabilitative services including inpatient wards, outpatient clinics and residential transitional settings. Committee members visiting these centers found that staffing and resources were insufficient and often hindered the transition process. VA witnesses agreed that staffing and resources are an issue but that they are doing their best to make sure that veterans get the best care possible.
On Thursday, The Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on VA’s Grant and Per Diem Program. The hearing primarily focused on homeless veterans, concentrating on the VA’s Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program (GPD). This program provides competitive grants to community-based, faith-based and public organizations to offer transitional housing or services for homeless veterans. The Grant and Per Diem program is essential to VA’s continuum of care for homeless veterans, assuring the availability of social services, employment support, and direct treatment or referral to medical treatment.
For more information on the any of the hearings visit the House VA website at:
http://veterans.house.gov
3. Senate Holds Hearing on Gulf War Illness
The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee held an oversight hearing on Gulf War illness and current research being done. According to witnesses the government has spent over $300 million researching the possible causes and symptoms’ surrounding what is known as “Gulf War Illness.”
The committee hopes to get answers on what is being done to diagnose and treat the variety of illness including chronic fatigue, muscle and joint pain, rashes, mental disorders like depression and others reported by soldiers serving in the Gulf War regions.
For more on the hearing visit the Senate VA website at: http://veterans.senate.gov
4. Iraq
Iraq's largest Sunni party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, unveiled a new set of political principles aimed at ending Iraq's political gridlock. Iraqi Vice President and party leader Tariq al-Hashimi said the platform, called "The Iraqi National Compact," is made up of 25 broad principles aimed at ending the deep mistrust among Iraqi politicians. The principles cover such issues as ending sectarianism and ensuring the state has sole possession of weapons, guaranteeing the peaceful and democratic transfer of power and promoting human rights, among others. The VFW is hopeful that the Iraqi political divide will close and progress in this area will evolve.
5. House Passes Family Leave Act
The U.S. House of Representatives approved an expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act to include the family members of wounded veterans. Under this expansion, family members would be able to take up to six months of unpaid leave from their jobs to care for injured veterans, no longer having to choose between keeping their job and caring for a loved one.
