VFW Department of NC Legislative Updates

September 19, 2007 at 04:25 PM

by NC VFW Legislative

Washington, DC – Sept. 9-12, 2007

 After a get acquainted dinner on Saturday, we spent Sunday in meetings discussing a variety of issues.  We were given updates on the military’s transition assistance, both for wounded warriors and those not wounded, and an update on the current bills under consideration.  We had training on how to conduct our meetings with the members of Congress, a VFW PAC update, and an overview of both the Democratic and Republican 2008 election strategy to recruit veterans into Congress.

Monday and Tuesday were spent on the Hill.  I attended with two of our NC VFW members, Ray Yamrus and Elree Smith.  The list of Senators and Representatives was split so that each of the VFW members met with one Senator and approximately half of the Reps. I accompanied Ray on his visits, since his list contained the name of the Congressman from my District. 

Although Congress was officially in session while we were in town, no real business was being conducted this week due to the report of General Petraeus, the death of Representative Gillmor (R-OH), special 9-11 remembrance ceremonies, and the Jewish New Year holidays later in the week.  But we were still able to meet with the various aides who handle veteran’s issues for each of our state’s House and Senate members.

In each of our visits, we focused on HR 2701, or its Senate equivalent S-22 – the Post 9/11 Education Assistance Bill.  All of the aides were receptive and said that they felt that the bill would be given consideration. Several told us about other bills to update the GI Bill, and that they were not familiar with this one.  We told him that HR 2702 was the one that the VFW chose to support since it was the most comprehensive.  We left a copy of the fact sheet for the GI Bill at all offices, and they appreciated the information.  At least two asked who introduced the bills, which we have since found out was Bobby Scott (D-VA) for HR 2702 and S-22 was introduced by Jim Webb (D-VA). Currently, only Democrats have signed up to Co-sponsor each bill. 

We also thanked them for support of the record breaking VA Funding bill, and discussed the quick resolution of issues in committee to resolve the two bills.  Some felt that it would be signed into law fairly quickly, but may miss the Oct 1 date by a few weeks. At least one indicated that it could be combined with other appropriation bills into one larger bill.

During our trip to Capitol Hill, Ray and I met with the following people:

·        Lee Lilley, Legislative Assistant to G. K. Butterfield (D) who represents the 1^st District in Wilson.  The day after we returned, we received an email from Lee, stating that the Congressman has signed on to HR 2702 (the GI Bill).

·        Clark Peterson, Legislative Assistant for Virginia Foxx (R) of the 5^th District in Boone.  They would look at the bill and consider support.

·        Casey Hastings, Senior Legislative Assistant for Patrick McHenry (R) of the 10^th District in Hickory.

·        Sean O’Brien, Legislative Director for Heath Shuler, (D) of the 11^th District.  Again, he told us that they would review the bill for consideration.

·        We met with Representative Robin Hayes (R) of the 8^th District and his National Security Legislative Assistant Jennifer Shirley.  Rep Hayes is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.  They told us that they were not familiar with HR 2702, but would look into it.  They let us know that there we other bills addressing updates to the GI Bill.  They will send us a full list of them.   

·        E. J. Kimball, Foreign Policy Counsel for Sue Myrick (R) of the 9^th District in Charlotte met with us.  I personally was very impressed with the display of approximately 30 8x10 portraits of servicemen on her wall.  They were all members of Rep. Myrick’s family who had served the nation in the military from WW I through current times, which accounts for her strong support for veterans.

·        Christopher Medley, Legislative Assistant to Bobby Etheridge (D) of the 2^nd District in Raleigh, was not available, and we met instead with Ben Bell who normally handles Agriculture/Natural Resource for the Congressman. He

·        In Senator Richard Burr’s office, we met with Kevin Hernandez, Legislative Assistant.  He told us that they had just received the official word that Senator Burr had been named to replace Senator Larry Craig as ranking Republican on the Senate Veteran Affair’s Committee.

All in all, it was a great experience.  I learned a lot about the fine points in the process of making our laws – both the good and the not-so-good.  I learned that there is a special language that they speak, which the insiders know, but which the average citizen does not necessarily understand.  For example, even with all of the activities that kept real business from being conducted while we were there, Congress is still considered “in session” all week.  And I learned that “writing” to your congressmen via standard US Mail is very slow, with letters taking weeks to arrive after going through screening at a clearinghouse.  Faxing or email is the way to communicate.

Finally, we made great connections with our Congressmen, which can be used on an on-going basis.  I know that the day after I returned, I heard about vandalizing of the Vietnam Wall, and had someplace to direct my email.

Helen Carter

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