VFW MO Legislative Updates

Posted at 09:43 PM on Friday, October 3, 2008 by Missouri

In This Issue:

NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE
1. President Signs VA Funding Bill
2. Congress Clears Veterans' Health and Benefit Bills

NATIONAL SECURITY & FOREIGN AFFAIRS
1. FY2009 Defense Spending Set
2. New Air Force Secretary Confirmed
3. Federal Employment for Military Spouses Made Easier
4. Vietnam War MIA Identified
5. WWII MIA Identified
6. Reserve Component Mobilization


NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE

1. President Signs VA Funding Bill: President Bush signed the FY 2009 VA funding
bill on Tuesday that is $4.5 billion more than last year.  Some of the highlights in
the VA funding package, which was passed as a part of the $634 billion Continuing
Resolution, include $3.8 billion for mental healthcare, $584 million for substance
abuse programs, $510 million for medical and prosthetic research, and additional
funding for homeless grants. It allows the Veterans Benefits Administration to hire
2,000 additional claims adjudicators to help reduce the disability claims backlog,
raises the mileage reimbursement rate to 41.5 cents per mile, and provides an
additional $750 million in funding for the construction of VA medical facilities. 
It was the first time in well over a decade that the VA was able to begin a new
fiscal year with an on-time budget.  VFW national commander Chief Glen Gardner
thanked Congress and the president, and said, "We hope the delivery of an on-time
budget is the start of a trend that will continue into the next administration and
Congress."  
Read the VFW Press Release at:
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=4772.  For a summary of the bill,
visit the House Appropriations Committee website at
http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/MCFY09CONFSummary09-22-08.pdf. 

2. Congress Clears Veterans' Health and Benefit Bills: Congress cleared two large
veterans' bills last weekend to enhance and update an array of VA programs.
*        S. 2162, The Veterans' Mental Health And Other Care Improvements Act of 2008, will
expand mental health care, substance use disorder, and readjustment and transition
programs, as well as improving access to health care for veterans in rural areas. 
The bill also addresses a comprehensive policy on pain management, and authorizes
$150 million to VA's homeless grant and per diem program.  It also would close a
loophole that forced many veterans to pay out-of-pocket expenses for emergency
treatment they received at non-VA facilities.
*        S. 3023, The Veterans Benefit Improvement Act of 2008, expands claims assistance
and veterans housing, increases access to the VA court system, and updates USERRA
and other veterans' employment programs.  One provision will also increase the
maximum home loan guarantee to $730,000, bringing it line with recent changes to FHA
during this unstable housing market.  The change is effective through the end of
2011. 
Both bills have sent to the president for signature.  For a complete breakdown of
both bills, visit the Senate VA Committee website at
http://veterans.senate.gov/public/. 


NATIONAL SECURITY & FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

1. FY2009 Defense Spending Set: The president's signature Tuesday of the
"Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act,
2009" fully funds the Departments of Defense ($487.7 billion) and Homeland Security
($40 billion), as well as VA/Military Construction ($72.9 billion) for fiscal year
2009, which began Wednesday.  Included in the defense funding was a 3.9% military
pay raise in January.  The Act also continued funding the other federal departments
and agencies at FY2008 levels until March 6, 2009. 

2. New Air Force Secretary Confirmed: The Senate confirmed Michael B. Donley as the
new Secretary of the Air Force yesterday.  His nomination had been stalled for
months by the long-running controversy over a new aerial tanker program.  The Senate
also confirmed Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig R. McKinley, currently the Air National
Guard director, to become head of the National Guard Bureau and for promotion as its
first four-star chief.  It also voted to approve McKinley's predecessor, Army Lt.
Gen. H. Steven Blum, to become the deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command, which
is in charge of homeland security.  The Senate also confirmed Army Gen. David D.
McKiernan, who is commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, as commander of U.S.
forces in Afghanistan, a new post.  

3. Federal Employment for Military Spouses Made Easier: President Bush signed an
executive order this week that will make it easier for spouses of military
servicemembers to get federal jobs.  The order authorizes noncompetitive hiring of
spouses and should make the hiring process easier and faster.  To be eligible,
individuals have to be the spouse of an active duty member or of a reservist on
active duty called on to relocate.  Also eligible are the spouses of servicemembers
listed as 100 percent disabled and separated or retired, as well as widows or
widowers of servicemembers who died on active duty and who have not remarried.  The
director of the Office of Personnel Management will issue the implementing
regulations.

4. Vietnam War MIA Identified: The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)
announced that the remains of Air Force Col. David H. Zook, Jr., of West Liberty,
OH, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full
military honors.  On Oct. 4, 1967, Zook was on a psychological warfare operation
over Song Be Province in South Vietnam when his U-10B Super Courier aircraft
collided in mid-air with a C-7A Caribou.  The C-7 pilot said he saw the other
aircraft hit the ground and explode.  Several search and rescue attempts failed to
locate Zook's remains.  In 1992, a joint U.S./Vietnamese team, led by the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command, investigated the incident in Song Be Province.  The team
interviewed Vietnamese citizens who witnessed the crash and saw remains amid the
wreckage.  The team surveyed the site and found evidence consistent with Zook's
crash.  While later examining the evidence recovered from the site, a small fragment
of bone was found.  In 1993, another joint team excavated the crash site and
recovered a bone fragment and non-biological material, including small pieces of
military clothing.  In March 2008, a final excavation was conducted and more human
remains were recovered. 

5. WWII MIA Identified: The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced that the
remains of Army 2nd Lt. Ernest E. Martin, of Hanover, MT, have been identified and
will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.  In November
1944, the 109th and 112th Infantry Regiments, 28th Infantry Division, were attacking
east through the Hürtgen Forest in an attempt to capture the German towns of
Vossenack and Schmidt.  On Nov. 4, the Germans counterattacked in what would become
one of the longest running battles in U.S. history.  Martin, a member of C Company,
109th Infantry Regiment, was reported missing in action near Vossenack on Nov. 10. 
In 2000, a German construction company found human remains in an unmarked grave
while clearing wartime unexploded ordnance from the Hürtgen Forest.  The remains,
along with military rank and branch insignia, were turned over to U.S. officials.

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
91,929; Navy Reserve, 5,965; Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, 11,905;
Marine Corps Reserve, 7,930; and the Coast Guard Reserve, 753.  This brings the
total number of mobilized Guard and Reserve personnel to 118,484, a decrease of 21
from last week.  These figures include the totals of voluntary and involuntary
activated Reserve Component members.  Of this total, 91,616 personnel have been
involuntarily mobilized, while 26,866 are voluntarily serving on active duty.