FW: VFW Action Corps Weekly, September 12, 2014

Thank You

VVA Chapter 17

Member
Robert serge

To all my fellow veterans friends and family my we all remember

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Subject: VFW Action Corps Weekly, September 12, 2014
To: rserge@live.com
From: tmorris@vfw.org
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 17:17:29 -0400

September 12, 2014 In This Issue: 1. VFW to Update Congressional Charter 2. VFW Arrives in DC -- Calls on Congress to End Sequestration/Improve VA 3. Senate Clears COLA 4. Senate Discusses VA IG Report on Phoenix 5. House VA Committee Clears Vets Bills 6. VA Appeals Metrics and Backlog Debated 7. Credentialing Effort Helps Troops Enter Private Sector 8. Five MIAs Recovered 1. VFW to Update Congressional Charter: The VFW is asking members of the House and Senate to support passage of legislation that will update its congressional charter. H.R. 5441 and S. 2782 will make two small, but significant changes in the wording of the charter - replacing the word "men" with "veterans" and the word "widows" with "surviving spouses." VFW National Commander John W. Stroud said, "We're changing it because being an eligible veteran is what's important to our great organization, not one's gender, and changing widows to surviving spouses is more representative of today's military. I salute every delegate for their support of Resolution 301, and thank the Senate and House VA Committee chairmen for their sponsorships." To Take Action and send an email urging support of the bills, click here: http://capwiz.com/vfw/issues/alert/?alertid=63312326 2. VFW Arrives in DC -- Calls on Congress to End Sequestration/Improve VA: VFW Legislative Committee Members from around the country will be in DC next week to meet with legislators. They will discuss ending Sequestration as a top priority, and deliver a report to Congress on the state of VA health care, entitled "Hurry Up and Wait." The report analyzes the past four months of VFW outreach efforts and includes specific recommendations to improve the state of VA health care. Read report here. Other critical issues include providing proper funding for implementing the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability provisions and protecting DOD programs from budget cuts. More details will be released next week. To read the entire report and our press release on the upcoming legislative conference, click here: http://www.vfw.org/News-and-Events/Articles/2014-Articles/Ending-Sequestration-Again-Tops-VFW-Legislative-Agenda/ 3. Senate Clears COLA: Late yesterday, the Senate passed S. 2258, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2014. The bill provides an increase in veterans' disability compensation and DIC for surviving spouses and children. The increase is tied to the social security and CPI index which has yet to be determined, but any increase will be effective December 1, 2014. The bill now awaits final action in the House. 4. Senate Discusses VA IG Report on Phoenix: Early this week, the Senate VA Committee heard testimony from VA leaders regarding the final report into allegations of lengthy wait times and scheduling manipulation at the Phoenix Medical facilities. In his first appearance before the committee, VA Secretary Robert McDonald said that "VA had acted to address many of the report's recommendations, and that demand outstripped supply for medical services contributing to an environment that encouraged violations." Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC) both asked about the hiring of health care providers and what is needed to meet the demand for care. The final report did not conclusively link wait times to any veterans' death, but uncovered lapses in follow-up, coordination, quality and continuity of care. The VFW will continue to monitor all aspects of the reform bill. To view the recorded webcast from the hearing, click here: http://www.veterans.senate.gov/hearings/the-state-of-va-health-care09092014 5. House VA Committee Clears Vets Bills: On Wednesday, the House Veterans Affairs' Committee approved six bills designed to improve the lives of veterans and their families. Among the bills is a measure that would permit the VA secretary to recoup bonuses and performance awards tied to misconduct, lengthy wait times and patient deaths at VA facilities. Some of the other bills that cleared the Committee include: * HR 4399 -- Authorizes a change in SES performance metrics to better reflect quality of care. * HR 4276 -- Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Care Improvement Act of 2014 allows TBI assisted living pilots to include community based living centers. * HR 4971 -- Requires VA to conduct a veterans' satisfaction survey. The bill also included the Classified Veterans Act and the Veterans Access to Speedy Review Act. * HR 4862 -- Authorizes VA to meet with special advisory committees to make recommendations on how to improve health care delivery. * HR 3594 -- Requires VA to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on all major construction projects. * HR 5404 -- Reauthorizes many critical existing VA programs that were set to expire. The bills now move to the House floor for debate. 6. VA Appeals Metrics and Backlog Debated: This week, the House VA Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing to discuss metrics and mismanagement at the Board of Veterans Appeals. According to witness testimony, there are over 300,000 appeals in the system, with over 280,000 of those languishing at VA regional offices. The VFW, alongside its VSO partners (American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of America and Paralyzed Veterans of America) are developing new initiatives that could help streamline the appeals process for at least some veterans. The new proposal -- the fully developed appeals or FDA program -- is designed to eliminate further development and delays at regional offices when veterans believe that no additional evidence would help their claims. Further, it would allow quicker decisions at the BVA in most cases. The VSOs and VA expect to finish working on this proposal in the next 60 days so that Congress can consider legislation early next year. To view the recorded hearing, click here: http://veterans.house.gov/hearing/cases-languish-and-data-manipulated-at-the-board-of-veterans%E2%80%99-appeals 7. Credentialing Effort Helps Troops Enter Private Sector: A change to Title 10 is helping transitioning service members acquire civilian credentials for technical professions, so they can move more quickly into the private sector. The 2012 change by Congress gives the Defense Department the authority to let separating service members have job-skills training programs, internships or apprenticeships as part of their duty assignments. "It's a pretty significant change in Defense Department authorities," said DOD Director of Force Readiness and Training Frank DiGiovanni, "and meant to assist in transition. It's not only for career fields the service members are in, but for any kind of training. Several programs now are leveraging that new authority." Pentagon officials say there are many military career fields where, with just a little bit of gap training, someone can step right into a civilian job, such as allied trade specialists, truck drivers, medical, supply, automotive mechanics, aircraft mechanics, information technology and manufacturing. Read more at http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123070&source=GovDelivery. 8. Five MIAs Recovered: The Defense POW/MIA Office announced the identification of remains belonging to five American servicemen who had been missing-in-action from World War II and Korea. All will be buried with full military honors at a location yet to be determined. Returning home are: * Army Air Forces 1st Lt. William Cook and Sgt. Eric M. Honeywell, 599th Bombardment Squadron, 397th Bombardment Group, lost Dec. 23, 1944, over Germany. He will be buried with full military honors at a location yet to be determined. * Army Pfc. Richard N. Bean, Company D, 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division, lost June 15, 1944, in Saipan. He will be buried with full military honors at a location yet to be determined. * Army Sgt. Lee H. Manning, Medical Company, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, lost Dec. 1, 1950, in North Korea. He will be buried with full military honors at a location yet to be determined. * Army Pfc. Arthur Richardson, 28, of Fall River, Mass., lost in January 1951 in South Korea. Richardson, a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, will be buried Sept. 18 in Arlington National Cemetery. To sign up new veterans' advocates, click here: http://capwiz.com/vfw/mlm/signup.htm. As always, we want to share your advocacy stories on the VFW Capitol Hill blog. To share your stories either fill out our online form by clicking here, http://www.vfw.org/Forms/Capitol-Hill-Blog-Submissions/, or simply email photos and stories directly to vfwac@vfw.org.

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