Veterans' Benefits Bill Passes House; Awaits President's Signature

Last night the House passed a comprehensive veterans' benefits bill that now awaits the president's signature. VFW leaders applauded the bill's passage as a major victory for veterans.

"The VFW has waited nearly two years for a comprehensive veterans’ benefits bill to make it through Congress, and we commend legislators on both sides of the aisle for demonstrating their continued support to our nation's veterans," said VFW Executive Director Bob Wallace. "The issues addressed in this bill demanded critical attention and difficult decision-making from our legislators, which is why we applaud the leaders in both the House and Senate who refused to let these ideas die in committee."

The bill was packaged as H.R. 1627, the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act, and includes more than 54 provisions designed to improve or streamline veterans' benefit programs that have moved through the House and Senate over the last two years. The bill also offers VA healthcare to veterans, employees and military family members exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune between Jan. 1, 1957 and Dec. 31, 1987, finally resolving a years-long dispute over how to best care for victims of the exposure.

Language for the omnibus bill was agreed upon in late June by legislators in both the House and Senate. The Senate passed its version of the bill on Wednesday, July 18, shortly before the VFW convened for the 113th national convention in Reno.

Among the bill's key provisions supported by the VFW are enhancements to VA's ability to deliver telehealth consultations to remote-located veterans; expanding services for victims of traumatic brain injury, or TBI; protecting veterans against sexual assault at VA facilities; and reauthorizing and expanding certain homeless veterans' programs.

To read more about the bill and the VFW's work advancing the bill though the Senate and ways to become involved in the legislative process, click here.

As this blog explained two weeks ago, the omnibus bill also includes provisions designed to streamline disability claims processing by adapting VA's duty to assist veterans in obtaining private medical evidence to support their disability claims.

The VFW voiced concerns over these two provisions before the House VA Committee last year, offering specific recommendations on how to best implement changes. Though the original legislation contained suitable language, the final version reverted to language that the VFW believes could prevent some veterans from receiving the maximum disability benefits to which they may be entitled.

To read VFW's original testimony on proposed duty-to-assist changes, click here.

However, VFW advocates in Washington believed that the omnibus bill contained too many critical provisions to help veterans, and encouraged the House to pass it, despite minor concerns over duty-to-assist. Instead, the VFW has already reached out to key staff on Capitol Hill to ensure discrepancies in the duty-to-assist process will be addressed quickly in the next Congressional term.

Your VFW will continue to fight to preserve and improve veterans' benefits programs, and the VFW urges the president to sign the veterans' omnibus bill in short order. Check back regularly with this blog for updates.