In This Issue:
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE
1. 2008 Election
2. IB Releases Critical Issues for 2010
NATIONAL SECURITY & FOREIGN AFFAIRS
1. 2009 Retired Pay COLA
2. Lower Tricare Reserve Select Premiums
3. Guard/Reserve Debt Relief Act of 2008
4. WWII MIA Identified
5. Vietnam MIAs Identified
6. Reserve Component Mobilization
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE
1. 2008 Election: The 2008 election is one for the history books, with
136.6 million people, or 64.1% of eligible voters turning out. This
exceeds the previous records of 122.3 million voters in 2004 and 63.8%
of eligible voters in the 1960 elections. The Democratic Party also
extended its majority lead in both the House and Senate, despite a few
races that have yet to be decided. VFW congratulates everyone and looks
forward to working with them when the 111th Congress convenes in
January. VFW remains steadfast in our fight to increase VA funding and
to help those transitioning from active duty to veteran status. Linked
here are VFW's 2009 Legislative Priority Goals, which are the result of
resolutions adopted at the 109th VFW National Convention. We ask that
you become familiar with them. Any grassroots action that you take to
educate your legislators on them will benefit all us all.
For a list of the 2009 priority goals, go to:
http://www.vfw.org/legislative/2009prioritygoals.pdf.
To sign-up to receive our VFW Washington Weekly e-newsletter and join
our advocacy team, go to:
http://capwiz.com/vfw/mlm/signup/2. IB Releases Critical Issues for 2010: The Independent Budget, which
the VFW co-authors, released the FY 2010 Critical Issues Report. It
contains a wide-ranging series of policy changes and recommendations to
better allow VA to care for all veterans. The seven critical issues
are:
* Sufficient, Timely and Predictable Funding for VA Health Care
* The Challenge of Caring for our Newest War Veterans
* Maintaining VA's Critical Medical Facilities Infrastructure
* Improvements Needed in Claims Process
* Seamless Transition from DOD to VA
* Human Resources Challenges Facing VA
* National Cemetery Administration
To read the entire report, go to the IB website and click on 2010 issues
at the bottom of the page at:
http://es3.pva.org/independentbudget/index.htmNATIONAL SECURITY & FOREIGN AFFAIRS
1. 2009 Retired Pay COLA: Each year military retirement pay is adjusted
to meet the increased cost of living. This Cost-of-Living-Adjustment
varies from year to year based on the previous year's Consumer Price
Index. The 2009 military retired pay COLA will be 5.8%, nearly 2%
higher than the 3.9% 2009 Military Pay Raise. The increase, which goes
into effect on Dec. 1, 2008, also applies to SBP annuities, Social
Security checks, and VA disability and survivor benefits. Retirees will
see the increase in their January 2009 checks.
2. Lower Tricare Reserve Select Premiums: The Tricare Management
Activity announced a decrease in the Tricare Reserve Select monthly
premium for both member and family coverage effective Jan. 1, 2009. The
new monthly rates will decrease from $81 to $47.51 for member-only
coverage, and from $253 to $180.17 for family coverage. Visit
http://www.tricare.osd.mil/reserve/<http://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/ProfileFilter.do;jsessionid=JL3WynB4YC
DQlcrdDztTv6QvyQX68SbLvhtm2fSphBPnLMJc2R9R!1512902727?puri=%2Fhome%2Fove
rview%2FPlans%2FReserveSelect> for further information on the Tricare
Reserve Select program.
3. Guard/Reserve Debt Relief Act of 2008: President Bush signed into law
Oct 20 the National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Act of 2008. The
act amends federal bankruptcy law to prohibit the bankruptcy court from
dismissing or converting a case based on means testing while the debtor:
is either on active duty in the military service of the United States or
performing a homeland defense activity for at least 90 days; during the
540 days following the end of such period; and was called to such active
duty or performed such homeland defense activity after Sept. 11, 2001,
as a member of a Reserve Component of the Armed Forces or the National
Guard. It also directs the Comptroller General to study and report to
Congress on whether and to what degree members of Reserve Components:
(1) avail themselves of the benefits of this Act; (2) are debtors in
federal bankruptcy cases substantially related to service that qualifies
such members for such benefits of this Act; and (3) are debtors in
federal bankruptcy cases materially related to such service.
4. WWII MIA Identified: The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office
announced that the remains of Army Air Forces Staff Sgt Martin F. Troy,
of Norwalk, CT, have been identified and will be returned to his family
for burial with full military honors. On June 30, 1944, Troy was on a
B-24H Liberator on a mission to bomb an oil refinery in Blechammer,
Germany. The plane was shot down by German aircraft and crashed in a
swampy area near Nemesvita, Hungary. Seven of the crewmembers
parachuted to safety and were captured. Three crewmen died in the
crash; the remains for two of them were eventually recovered and
identified. Troy's remains were not recovered. In 1999 and 2003,
Hungarian citizens turned over to U.S. officials human remains
supposedly recovered from Troy's crash site. In 2003 and 2005, Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command teams surveyed the site. In 2007, JPAC
excavated the site and recovered additional human remains and
non-biological evidence.
5. Vietnam MIAs Identified: The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office
announced that the remains of four U.S. Marines have been identified and
will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
They are Lance Cpls. Kurt E. La Plant of Lenexa, KS, Luis F. Palacios of
Los Angeles and Ralph L. Harper of Indianapolis, plus Pfc. Jose R.
Sanchez of Brooklyn, NY. On June 6, 1968, the Marines were aboard a
CH-46A Sea Knight helicopter that was attempting an emergency extraction
of elements of the 1st Battalion, 4th Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, in
the mountains southwest of Khe Sanh. The helicopter was struck by enemy
ground fire and crashed, killing 12 of the 23 crewmen and passengers on
board. All but four of the men who died were subsequently recovered and
identified. Between 1993 and 2005, joint U.S./Vietnamese teams, led by
the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, investigated the incident in Quang
Tri Province, interviewed witnesses, and surveyed the crash site three
times. The team found a U.S. military boot fragment and wreckage
consistent with that of a CH-46 helicopter. In 2006, a team began
excavating the site and recovered human remains and non-biological
material evidence, including La Plant's identification tag. While at
the site, a Vietnamese citizen turned over to the team additional human
remains that he claimed to have found amid the wreckage. In 2007,
another team completed the excavation and recovered additional human
remains, life support material and aircraft wreckage.
6. Reserve Component Mobilization: The total number currently on active
duty in support of the partial mobilization for the Army National Guard
and Army Reserve is 95,832; Navy Reserve, 6,041; Air National Guard and
Air Force Reserve, 10,563; Marine Corps Reserve, 7,116; and the Coast
Guard Reserve, 758. This brings the total number of mobilized Guard and
Reserve personnel to 120,310, an increase of 245 from last week. These
figures include the totals of voluntary and involuntary activated
Reserve Component members. Of this total, 93,600 personnel have been
involuntarily mobilized, while 26,710 are voluntarily serving on active
duty.
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