President Signs Veterans' Benefits and Camp Lejeune Health Care Bill

The White House announced yesterday that the president had signed into law H.R. 1627, the "Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act."

The comprehensive veterans' benefit bill includes more than 54 provisions designed to improve and streamline veterans' benefit programs, and also extends VA healthcare benefits to veterans and military families exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune between Jan. 1, 1957, and Dec. 31, 1987. The Camp Lejeune healthcare provision finally resolves a years-long dispute over how to best care for victims of toxic exposure at the North Carolina installation.

VFW advocates, who worked diligently to advance the bill, called the veterans' omnibus benefits package a major victory for the veterans' community.

To read more about H.R. 1627, the VFW's work to advance the bill through Congress, and ways to become involved in the legislative process, click here.

Leaders in the House and Senate agreed on language for the omnibus bill in late June, including language from dozens of stand-alone veterans' bills introduced in the first session of the 112th Congress. The Senate passed its version of the bill on July 18, and the House sent the final version of the bill to the president for his signature last week.

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

H.R. 1627 is the latest veterans' bill signed into law on the heels of VFW action, but more work remains for VFW advocates once Congress reconvenes in Washington after Labor Day. Check back for updates.

(Image: President Barack Obama signs the “Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012,” in the Oval Office on Aug. 6, 2012. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.)

VFW Applauds Presidential Jobs Initiatives for Vets

The VFW joined President Barack Obama at Fire Station No. 5 in Arlington, Va., where the president announced the administration’s latest employment initiatives for veterans. First responders, veterans and veterans’ advocates from across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area joined the president alongside VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar for the announcement.

The president’s latest initiatives include new incentives to hire veterans as first responders in communities across the country, establishing a new Veterans’ Jobs Corps to help build, restore and maintain the nation’s infrastructure, and offering extensive entrepreneurship workshops for potential small business owners.

The president’s initiatives come with a price tag, which will be reflected in the administration’s budget proposal later this month. However, the administration hopes to demonstrate to Congress that offering viable career opportunities to America’s veterans in critical industries will be worth the investment. The VFW applauded the announcement, which could help develop a new generation of leaders for our nation.

“There is no initiative too bold when it comes to helping veterans get jobs, especially with the new generation of post-9/11 warriors now reentering society in numbers not seen since the Vietnam War,” said VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard L. DeNoyer. “Our nation and her public and private employer partners must do everything possible to not only ensure their smooth transition, but to enlist their extraordinary talents to help serve and protect our nation and communities, and to help restore our economy to greatness.”

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said in a statement that he was skeptical of temporary programs, but that he looks forward to learning more about the president’s initiatives.

“Veterans deserve nothing less than to have the opportunity to gain meaningful employment and to be first in line for any existing jobs program,” Miller said.

The VFW has considered veterans’ employment one of its top priorities for the last few years. In December, the VFW scored a major victory when the VOW to Hire Heroes Act passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support and the president quickly signed it into law. However, VFW advocates continue to work with leaders in Washington to improve employment prospects for veterans, as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan draw to a close.

Today’s announcement coincided with the release of new unemployment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which demonstrated that unemployment among Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans finally dipped below 10 percent. Unfortunately, unemployment among veterans of the current conflicts continues to outpace civilian unemployment.

Arlington Fire Station No. 5, located only three blocks from the Pentagon, is known for its brave firefighters and paramedics who first responded to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Arlington Fire Department Lt. Jacob Johnson, a Marine Corps veteran of the war in Iraq, introduced the president and spoke about the importance of first-responder jobs for veterans like him.

(Images: Top: President Barack Obama announces the administration’s latest employment initiatives for veterans at Fire Station No. 5 in Arlington, Va. Bottom: Arlington Fire Department Lt. Jacob Johnson, a Marine Corps veteran, greets President Obama on stage prior to the announcement of the administration’s new veterans’ employment initiatives. Photos by Ryan Gallucci.)