In This Issue:
1. VFW / VA Members Among Fort Hood Victims
2. VFW Legislative Priority Goals for 2010
3. No Tricare For Life Changes
4. White House Employment Initiative Good for Veterans:
1. VFW / VA Members Among Fort Hood Victims: Last week's tragic shooting
at Fort Hood included VFW and VA members. Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow,
32, was killed by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who allegedly murdered 13
and wounded dozens before being shot and apprehended by two civilian law
enforcement officers. DeCrow was a member of VFW Post 11016 in Songnam,
South Korea. He graduated high school in 1996 in Plymouth, IN, and
leaves behind a wife and daughter at Fort Gordon, GA. Two VA employees
also slain were identified as:
* Dr. Russell G. Seager, Ph.D., a 51-year old Army Reserve captain
who led a mental health team at the VA medical center in Milwaukee.
* Lt. Col. Juanita L. Warman, a 55-year-old Maryland National
Guardsman who was a nurse practitioner at the VA medical center in Perry
Point, MD. She was a former member of VFW Post 8276 in Delmar, MD.
VFW Commander-in-Chief Thomas J. Tradewell Sr. said, "No words can
properly convey our condolences to the wounded and families of those
murdered. The entire military family is grieving right now. I just
want them to know they do not grieve alone. Our hearts and prayers are
with them." Read the VFW press release at
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=5280.
2. VFW Legislative Priority Goals for 2010: The VFW's Legislative
Committee voted and approved this year's priority goals, which are our
mandate for lobbying Congress on behalf of veterans and our
servicemembers and families members. Ensuring a sufficient VA budget,
reducing the disability claims backlog, and providing enhanced quality
of life programs and services for all military members and their
families are just a few of the 2010 Legislative Priority Goals. The VFW
urges all members and veterans' advocates to educate themselves and
their congressional delegations on these critical priority goals, which
are based on resolutions passed at the VFW National Convention in
August. The entire list is available at the VFW website at
http://www.vfw.org/PR/Legislative/2010PriorityGoals%20PROOF.pdf3. No Tricare For Life Changes: VFW members have been receiving
erroneous e-mail claims that Tricare For Life is under attack by the
Administration and Congress. The claims stem from a January
Congressional Budget Office report that recommended changes to the
program, changes that the President and Congress did not act upon. In
fact, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act with no fee
increases and no changes in administering Tricare For Life, and they
added language into the legislation that prohibits the Defense
Department from implementing any Tricare inpatient care copayment
increases for FY2010. The legislation also authorized premium-based
Tricare coverage for "gray area" Reserve Force retirees younger than age
60, and expanded active-duty Tricare eligibility for activating Reserve
Force members and their families. The President signed the bill into law
in October. Also of note, the health reform legislation that Congress
is considering would enable those covered by Tricare as well as VA care
to be exempt from the legislation's individual responsibility penalty.
The VFW continues to lead other Veterans Service Organizations in
ensuring nothing is done to erode Tricare or VA health care benefits
that veterans so richly deserve.
4. White House Employment Initiative Good for Veterans: The VFW
applauded a new presidential executive order this week that places
special emphasis on hiring veterans for both public and private
employment. It also created a special Council on Veterans Employment to
encourage federal agencies to recruit and train military veterans. The
council will be co-chaired by the secretaries of Labor and Veterans
Affairs. Approximately 480,000 veterans currently work for the
government, about one-fourth of the total federal workforce. "The
president is serious about helping veterans get a job, and he is making
sure the federal government is at the top of the hiring line," said VFW
Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief Richard L. Eubank, who witnessed the Nov.
9 signing in the Oval Office while in Washington to represent the
organization at national Veterans Day events. Read the president's
executive order at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-veterans-employment-initiative. Read the VFW press release at
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=5289.
Topic: VFW WASHINGTON WEEKLY, November 13, 2009 (Read 1425 times)
