VFW Washington Weekly
April 28, 2008

In This Issue:
1. Senate Passes Large Benefits Bill
2. House VA Committee Bills
3. Senate Hearing on VA/DOD Improvements
4. OIF/OEF Campaign Stars

1. Senate Passes Large Veterans Bill: The Senate passed 96-1 a large veterans' package that improves a wide-array of benefits, including life insurance, burial allowance and adaptive equipment grants. The package now moves to the House. Some of the VFW-supported provisions in S. 1315 would:
• Increase the maximum amount of supplemental Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance from $20,000 to $30,000.
• Expand eligibility for home improvement and structural alteration assistance to include permanently disabled servicemembers.
• Provide a specially-adapted housing grant to veterans and qualified servicemembers with severe burn injuries.
• Extend authority of the VA to assist individuals living temporarily in residences owned by family members.
• Provide automobile and adaptive equipment assistance to disabled veterans and servicemembers with severe burn injuries.
• Increase to $445 from the current $300 allowance for veteran burial plots.
• Provide a presumption of service-connection for osteoporosis for former POWs with post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Increase cost-of-living for additional dependency and indemnity compensation paid to certain surviving spouses with minor dependent children.
• Expand retroactive traumatic injury protection under SGLI (TSGLI) to include all servicemembers, not just those injured in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
For a complete listing of S. 1315 provisions, visit the Thomas website at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.01315:



2. House VA Committee Bills: The House Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity took quick action last Wednesday on several VFW-supported bills. The bills improve adaptive grants, vocational rehabilitation and home loans, and would also increase the Montgomery GI Bill to help veterans obtain a college education. VFW provided testimony in support of the bills at an earlier hearing. Below is a synopsis of the bills:
• HR 4883 would prohibit the foreclosure of property owned by a servicemember for one year following military service.
• HR 3889 would require VA to conduct a 20-year study of veterans participating in VA vocational rehabilitation programs, starting in 2011.
• HR 4884 would increase from 90 to 100 percent the amount of a veterans' home loan guarantee.
• HR 4889 would move educational benefits for the National Guard and Reserves under the authority of the VA, instead of DOD
• HR 3681 would authorize VA to purchase advertising in national media outlets to increase their veterans' outreach efforts on VA benefits.
• HR 5664 would require VA to update the adaptive housing handbook every six years, and to include new and/or unique disabilities, such as vision impairments and burn injuries.
• HR 5684 would increase GI Bill benefits from $650 to $1,250 for those with two years active duty, and would allow money to be used for business courses, continuing education and preparatory courses. It would provide a monthly stipend in addition to the tuition assistance benefit -- $500 for veterans attending school at least as half-time students, and $250 for less than half time hours. It also extends education eligibility from 10 to 15 years after release from active duty, and allows for enrollment in the GI Bill at any time while serving on active duty.


Also on Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Health approved five VFW-supported bills at a markup. All now move to the full Committee. VFW has testified in support of all five bills, and has a resolution in support of two of them:
• VFW Resolution #649 supports HR 3819, which would require VA to pay for all emergency services a veteran receives at a non-VA facility until the veteran can be transferred to a VA facility
• VFW Resolution #640 supports HR 5729, which would give the full range of healthcare to children born with spina bifida of certain Vietnam veterans.
The other three VFW-supported bills include:
• HR 5554, which would improve the range of services VA provides for substance abuse disorders, particularly among OEF/OIF veterans, who are dealing with depression, PTSD and other mental health issues.
• HR 2790, which would create a VA director of physician assistant services to help plan and implement programs to better use the services of physician assistants throughout the VA healthcare system.
• HR 5856, which would authorize a number of VA construction projects for the coming year, allowing them to be funded at a later date.
For more information on any of the bills, enter the bill number at: http://thomas.loc.gov
For committee information, visit the House VA website at: http://veterans.house.gov/

3. Senate Hearing on VA/DOD Improvements: The Senate VA Committee held a hearing on how VA and DOD can improve care and services for returning servicemembers. DAV represented the Independent Budget and discussed our four areas of concern: the Disability Evaluation System, Mental Health (PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injuries), Care Management, and Data Sharing. The senators discussed the need for the two Departments to work together, especially with reports of increased suicides risks and severe PTSD among returning veterans. The hearing was the eleventh in a series on VA /DOD collaboration dating back to January of 2007. For more information, visit the Senate VA website at: http://veterans.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?pageid=16


4. OIF/OEF Campaign Stars: The Department of Defense announced last week that campaign stars are authorized for wear on the Afghanistan Campaign Medal (ACM) and Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM). Servicemembers who have qualified for the ACM and/or ICM may now display a bronze campaign star on their medal for each designated campaign phase they participated. You can find the campaign names and associated dates for each medal at http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11848.