Live from Capitol Hill: AMVETS to Testify Before House Subcommittees

Today AMVETS Acting Legislative Director Christina Roof will testify before both the House VA Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs and the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.

Live Web casts from both hearings can be viewed at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. by Clicking Here.

The first hearing before the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee came to order this morning in the Veterans Affairs committee chambers in Cannon 340, and will focus on seven pieces of legislation potentially affecting veterans. To view a full list of participants and to read their prepared remarks, Click Here.

Roof's remarks this morning will focus on four of the bills, which AMVETS supports; the Providing Military Honors for our Nation's Heroes Act, or H.R. 811, which would offer travel reimbursement to organizations that provide military honors for veteran funerals; the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act, or H.r. 1407, which will set rates for COLA adjustments for veterans in 2011; H.R. 1627, an act to support uniform definitions for monuments at Arlington National Cemetery, and H.R. 1441, an act which would prohibit the long-overlooked practice of reserving space at Arlington National Cemetery.

In the afternoon, Roof will once again appear in Cannon 340 to testify before the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, addressing four additional pieces of legislation related to veterans' educational and entrepreneurial opportunities. To view a full list or participants and to read their prepared remarks, Click Here.

Roof's remarks will focus on two pieces of legislation before the subcommittee which AMVETS supports, H.R. 1657, an act which would revise the penalties for small businesses misrepresenting themselves as "veteran-owned" to secure set-aside government contracts; and
H.R. 1383, an act which would temporarily preserve higher tuition reimbursement rates under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill for student veterans attending private institutions of higher learning.

During her remarks, Roof will also address an overlooked inequity in last year's G.I. Bill improvements act, which stripped nearly 400,000 enrolled veterans of living allowance payments during academic break periods.

American Veteran will follow both hearings closely. Check back for highlights.

New Year at American Veteran: G.I. Bill Fixes Signed; VA to Vet Small Businesses

The New Year is upon us at American Veteran magazine and this afternoon marks the start of the 112th Congress--with many shifts in leadership among the veterans affairs and armed services committees. Aside from the party shift in the House, the Senate is also slated to make significant changes to its committee assignments. American Veteran will follow today's developments and we will publish comprehensive lists of relevant committee assignments as they become available.

Over the next few weeks, AMVETS Acting Legislative Director Christina Roof will work diligently to deliver AMVETS Legislative Priorities for 2011 to each relevant committee member.

Yesterday marked another significant step in delivering quality educational and vocational training benefits to today's veterans with President Barack Obama's signing of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2010, which passed Congress during the lame duck session.

The bill includes many of the improvements which AMVETS has called for over the last two years in an effort to make the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill more equitable for today's war fighters.

Among the critical improvements are offering benefits to Active Guard & Reserve, or AGR, soldiers and members of the military activated on Title 32 orders for homeland defense missions. The new law also allows veterans enrolled in non-degree or vocational training programs an opportunity to utilize their Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits to defray costs, and also offers distance learners a portion of the living stipend benefit.

The changes could make Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits available to an additional 400,000 veterans and current service members.

Unfortunately, the total law did not satisfy all of AMVETS' expectations, as Congressional leaders scrapped break payments of living stipends for more than 350,000 veterans currently enrolled under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. AMVETS recognized that offering break payments remained a budget-neutral proposal and asked Congressional leaders to keep the benefit intact. However, in the hours prior to the vote, the controversial proposal was kept in the bill.

Starting next fall, students enrolled under Chapter 33 will no longer be entitled to living stipend payments during winter and summer break months.

American Veteran will continue to follow implementation of the new G.I. Bill fixes.

On Monday, VA also announced its new plan to vet veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses seeking government contracts. To read VA's announcement of the new policy, Click Here.

AMVETS Acting Legislative Director Christina Roof, who previously served as a small business consultant, has consistently called on VA to audit its contractors to ensure compliance. Roof called the new policy a "step in the right direction," but expressed concerns that the new verification process could create a backlog of contractors looking for work.

Under the new policy, VA will require the 13,000 companies currently listed in the Vendor Information Pages, or VIP, database to verify their status within 90 days. After this time, VA will consider additional applications for the VIP database from other potential VOSBs and SDVOSBs.

AMVETS outlined contractor compliance as a top priority in the 2011 Legislative Agenda. American Veteran will continue to follow this story closely. Check back regularly for updates.

(Image: Cover of AMVETS Legislative Priorities for 2011. Photo courtesy of Architect of the Capitol.)

Live from Capitol Hill: AMVETS to Testify on VA Contractor Compliance

This afternoon AMVETS National Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof will testify before the House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity to discuss federal contractor compliance and, particularly, the state of VA oversight on contracts for veteran-owned small businesses.

To view live video of this afternoon's hearing, Click Here.

To view a list of this morning's witnesses and to read their prepared statements, Click Here.

Prior to joining AMVETS, Roof served as a small business consultant, bringing a wealth of knowledge on small business administration and contract compliance to her post at AMVETS.

Over the last two years, Roof has established herself as a subject matter expert on veteran-owned small businesses, or VOSBs, and service disabled veteran-owned small businesses, or SDVOSBs, and VA's contracting processes.

During her testimony, Roof plans to discuss persistent shortcomings in the validation process for VOSBs and SDVOSBs and shortcomings in auditing, which have created a system rife for fraud within VA contracting.

Roof will also call on VA and Congress to establish more stringent rules and penalties for small businesses claiming veteran-owned status to ensure that truly veteran-owned small businesses receive the preferences in contracting they deserve.

Roof will also call on Congress to establish a centralized federal database for VOSBs and SDVOSBs to allow different departments to share information on small businesses eligible to execute federal contracts set aside for veterans.

Given the recent economic crisis and abysmal veteran unemployment statistics, Roof says that small businesses owners' efforts to exploit the system through dubious means like "rent-a-vet" are tantamount to stealing jobs from eligible veterans, and she hopes that Congress and VA will take the necessary steps to ensure contractor compliance and contract delivery moving forward.

American Veteran will continue to follow this story closely as it develops. Check back regularly for updates.

Live from Capitol Hill: AMVETS Testifies on VA's Center of Veteran Enterprise

This afternoon, AMVETS Deputy National Legislative Director Christina Roof appeared before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Development to discuss the VA's Center for Veteran Enterprise, or CVE, which handles vetting and certification for veteran-owned and service disabled veteran-owned small businesses.

To view a Web cast of this morning's hearing, Click Here.

Roof has been a leading voice before Congress on veterans' small businesses, commonly referred to as VOSBs and SDVOSBs, calling attention to critical oversight issues within VA.

In this morning's hearing, Roof applauded VA's efforts to address oversight issues in recent months, but cited several issues within VA's newly-established guidelines for VOSBs ownership and operation.

Roof said that the current verification process focuses solely on ownership, still leaving the door open for fraud, and that the new guideline that veterans can only register one VOSB stifles entrepreneurship.

Roof also reiterated the call from the Independent Budget partners for all federal agencies to use VA's VIP program as its sole source to verify veterans' status for small business owners.

Live from Capitol Hill: House VA Subcommittee on Oversight to Host Hearing on VA Acquisitions

This morning, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will host a hearing on VA acquisitions and veterans' contracting. AMVETS Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof will be on hand for this morning's hearing and submitted testimony for the record on behalf of AMVETS.

To view live video of this morning's hearing at 10 a.m. eastern, Click Here.

In the spring, AMVETS became a vocal advocate for improved oversight on VA contracting and auditing procedures within the federal government for veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs).

Through extensive research into auditing processes and her background in small business administration, Roof was able to identify key deficiencies within veterans' contracting and has sparked the subcommittee to take action, commissioning additional hearings and looking for potential legislative solutions to persistent issues.

To read Roof's original testimony from March, Click Here.

American Veteran will follow the developments out of today's hearing and we will include commentary from Roof later today. In the meantime, to view a list of today's witnesses and to read their statements, Click Here.

This Week at American Veteran

This week at American Veteran, we will report on yesterday's somber wreath-laying at Arlington National Ceremony in honor of Pearl Harbor Day.

We will also follow up on last weekend's meeting of the AMVETS National Executive Committee at the BWI Hilton in Linthicum, Md., where AMVETS leaders gathered to discuss the way forward for the organization. AMVETS leaders also unveiled ReportStolenValor.org, the new online resource to help concerned citizens report phony veterans.

American Veteran will also follow the work of AMVETS National Legislative Department throughout the week. AMVETS National Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof will participate in a series of meetings throughout the week pertaining to veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and veterans' federal employment. AMVETS has become a critical voice on veterans' employment since testifying on oversight issues for veteran-owned small businesses last spring.

We will also continue to follow VA's implementation of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. As of Monday morning, VA reported that 61,000 claims for the new benefits still await processing.

At American Veteran, we're always eager to hear what's happening at posts and departments around the country, so please feel free to share your stories with us. And, as always, let us know what you think.