AMVETS Outlines Legislative Agenda for House Veterans Affairs Committee

This morning, AMVETS National Legislative Directory Ray Kelley laid out AMVETS legislative agenda for 2010 during the House Veterans Affairs Committee roundtable with 40 of the nation's top veterans' organizations.

During his brief testimony, Kelley explained that AMVETS will work with leaders in Congress and other top VSOs to overhaul the VA claims process, bring equity to the current chapters of the G.I. Bill, implement comprehensive reintegration programs for today's returning veterans, improve services to rural and remote-located veterans, and provide improved health care services to meet the unique needs of female veterans.

To download a copy of the AMVETS 2010 legislative agenda, Click Here.

Thirty-three of the 40 assembled organizations outlined remedying the VA claims backlog as their top priority, citing long wait times, antiquated processes and inequities in reviews as primary causes.

During the question and answer portion of the roundtable, Kelley explained that 22 percent of claims caught up in the backlog of nearly one million claims and appeals are the result of inaccurate or incomplete paperwork, pointing to a need for improved accuracy in claims-filing, rather than focusing simply on speed.

Other central topics of discussion included updating the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill to include members of the National Guard activated under Title 32 orders, inequities in survivor's benefits, VA procurement issues, and veterans' unemployment.

Committee Ranking Member Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) asked each VSO to consider ways to improve mechanics of implementation once Congress passes legislation.

Congressman Tim Walz (D-Minn.) also took the opportunity to discuss his legislation that would extend veterans' status to National Guard and Reserve retirees who did not serve the requisite time overseas during their military careers.

(Photos: Top: Forty of the nation's top veterans' organizations joined the House Committee on Veterans Affairs round table on veterans' issues this morning in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill. Bottom: AMVETS National Legislative Director Ray Kelley outlines AMVETS' legislative agenda at this morning's roundtable. Photos by Ryan Gallucci.)

Live from Capitol Hill: House Veterans Affairs Committee Looks for G.I. Bill Answers

Yesterday, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity hosted a roundtable discussion among VA leaders, veterans' advocates, and educators to discuss persistent delays in Post-9/11 G.I. Bill (Chapter 33) delivery and potential solutions.

To date, 26,000 claims for Chapter 33 remain unpaid, as the fall semester draws to a close and bills for spring semester are due.

To read the Military Times story about yesterday's hearing, Click Here.

Though AMVETS did not testify, American Veteran was on hand for the discussion.

Student-veterans have commented on this blog repeatedly, desperately seeking assistance amid persistent delays.

At yesterday's round table, participants discussed the possibility of splitting the current claims process to expedite delivery of living stipends, while tuition and fees payments lag behind, or prioritizing processing for enrolled veterans. However, VA Director of Education Services Keith Wilson pointed out that this would not have an effect on the overall workload, still allowing veterans to fall through the cracks.

In August, AMVETS suggested emergency advance payments to aide veterans caught in the backlog, and VA implemented a similar $3,000 emergency check program in October. Unfortunately, this money is starting to run out for student-veterans still waiting for their first living stipend and tuition reimbursements.

AMVETS leaders will continue to monitor Chapter 33 implementation and make recommendations to VA and Congressional leaders in an effort to remedy the backlog. AMVETS service officers will also continue to make advocacy calls on behalf of veterans with questions about their pending claims.

Check back regularly with American Veteran Online for updates, and let us know what you think.

(Photos: Top: Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-S.D.), chairwoman of the subcommittee, asks questions to roundtable participants. House Veterans Affairs Ranking Member Rep. Steve Buyer (D-Ind.) and subcommittee ranking member Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.) also played a key role in the afternoon's discussion. Bottom: VA Director of Education Services Keith Wilson answers questions about VA's efforts to remedy the Chapter 33 backlog. Photos by Ryan Gallucci.)

AMVETS National Commander Visits With Leaders on Capitol Hill

For the last two days, AMVETS National Commander Duane Miskulin has been meeting with leaders in the Senate and House committees on Veterans Affairs on Capitol Hill. Yesterday, Miskulin met with Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-N.C.), hand-delivering a copy of AMVETS' 2010 legislative agenda to each senator.

Today, following a quick meeting with Veterans Affairs Committee Ranking Member Steve Buyer (R-Indiana), Miskulin delivered remarks during a special memorandum signing in the Cannon House Office Building between VA and U.S. Paralympics, codifying a new partnership to assist wounded veterans in achieving their athletic aspirations.

Miskulin thanked VA and U.S. Paralympics for the new partnership, stressing the need for such a program to call attention to the positive rehabilitative tools available to our wounded troops.

U.S. Paralympian wounded warriors were on hand alongside VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, VA Assistant Secretary for Pubic and Intergovernmental Affairs Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Paralympic officials, members of Congress, and veterans' organizations including AMVETS.

Though today's meetings were cut short to participate in the announcement, Miskulin plans to once again meet with Buyer and House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) in the coming weeks to discuss AMVETS' legislative agenda in greater detail.

Tomorrow afternoon, Miskulin will be at the White House where President Obama plans to sign advance appropriations for VA health care into law. For AMVETS and the Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform, tomorrow's signing will mark the culmination of 13 years of work to overhaul the VA funding mechanism, assuing sufficient, timely and predictable funding for the VA.

Check back tomorrow afternoon with American Veteran Online for updates from the White House.

(Photo: AMVETS National Commander Duane Miskulin alongside Sen. Daniel Akaka during yesterday's visit to Capitol Hill, outlining AMVETS' legislative agenda for 2010. Photo courtesy of Sen. Akaka. Members of Congress, VA officials, and veterans' organization leaders, including Miskulin, stand for a photo with the signatories of the agreement, Norman Bellingham of U.S. Paralympics, Secretary Shinseki, and Paralympic veteran Scott Winkler. Photo by Emerson Sanders courtesy of VA.)

Reps. Buyer, Walz Introduce Bipartisan Bill for Surviving Spouses

Yesterday afternoon, Congressmen Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) and Tim Walz (D-Minn.) introduced their bipartisan bill to increase VA survivor's benefits for spouses of those killed in the line of duty, the Surviving Spouses' Benefit Improvement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2243).

AMVETS Legislative Director Ray Kelley and Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof were on hand to show their support for the bill.

If enacted, the landmark bill would eliminate the inequity in survivors' benefits payments between military widows and the widows of civilian federal employees. Today, surviving military spouses only receive 43 percent of their deceased veteran's disability payment, compared to 55 percent for deceased federal employees.

"This new legislation will ensure that survivors receive that due compensation," said Walz during the press conference. "We cannot bring their loved ones back, but at least we can live up to the words of Abraham Lincoln that serve as the motto for the VA, 'To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.'"

The bill would also eliminate the current offset between Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and the Suvivor Benefit Plan (SBP). Walz and Buyer clarified that DIC is intended as compensation for service-connected death, while SBP is a pay-in life insurance policy. However, beneficiaries today cannot receive the benefits concurrently, which Buyer and Walz see as a gross misinterpretation of the benefits' intent.

The Gold Star Wives of America were also on hand to voice their support for the bill, with America's oldest Gold Star Wife speaking her mind on the inequities of the current benefits.

Buyer is the ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve who served in Operation Desert Storm. Walz is a retired Command Sergeant Major in the Army National Guard who deployed to Italy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The official release regarding yesterday's press conference can be viewed by clicking here.

(Photo: America's oldest Gold Star Wife speaks in support of the Surviving Spouses' Benefits Improvement Act of 2009 during yesterday's press conference on Capitol Hill. Photo by Christina Roof.)

View the Video from Yesterday's VA Budget Hearing

To view the testimony of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, AMVETS Legislative Director Ray Kelley and the Independent Budget partners before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, click here.

During the hearing, committee chairman Robert Filner (D-Calif.) applauded the work of the IB partners, as the committee discusses the FY2010 VA budget. Members of the House committee, including ranking member Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), asked each of the IB partners pointed questions about their budget proposals and ways in which Congress could improve services for veterans.

On Thursday, AMVETS National Commander John Chad Hapner will testify before a special joint session of both the House and Senate committees on veterans' affairs to outline AMVETS' legislative agenda for 2009. Check in with American Veteran Online for up-to-the-minute coverage of the day's hearing.

(Photo: Thumbnail image of yesterday's hearing before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs to discuss the FY2010 VA budget.)