VFW Testimony: Don’t Balance Budget on Backs of Disabled Veterans and Military

WASHINGTON March 7, 2012 — In testimony today before a joint hearing of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, the national commander of America’s oldest and largest major combat veterans’ organization urged Congress to not balance the budget on the backs of disabled veterans or on the men and women who continue to serve in uniform.

Richard DeNoyer delivering testimony

“Your two committees have a long history of taking care of veterans in a bipartisan manner,” said Richard L. DeNoyer, a retired Marine and Vietnam combat veteran from Middleton, Mass., who leads the 2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries. 

“We understand that current budget realities are forcing very hard choices in Congress and in agencies and departments across the executive branch. I urge you all to remember in the coming days that Congress’ first mandate is the protection of its citizens, which can only be accomplished if Congress first protects those who volunteer to protect our nation in uniform.”

Today’s congressional testimony caps the VFW’s annual legislative conference in which 300 VFW leaders from around the country visited their elected officials to discuss issues important to veterans, service members and their families. Atop their legislative agenda this year was protecting the Department of Veterans Affairs budget from mandatory cuts should sequestration occur, and stopping Defense Department proposals that would reduce military pay, force military dependents and retirees to pay exponentially more for their Tricare health coverage, and to civilianize the current military retirement system.

VFW members took to The Hill in support of their national commander

Other high-interest topics range from military transition and assistance programs to Post 9/11 GI Bill improvements, the proper care and treatment of wounded warriors, women veterans, the 1.7 million VA claims workload and adjudication error rate, the VA rating schedule change that could have veterans with similar wounds compensated differently, and combating veteran suicides and homelessness, among others. 

    

Other events during the week-long legislative conference include:

Presenting the VFW Congressional Award to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) for fighting to strengthen the military and to invest in a force that can meet and beat any threat. He also led efforts to keep terrorist detainees off of U.S. soil, increased missile defense funding, restored the tradition of keeping nondefense social issues out of the defense bill, and is a leading voice to keep the military intact in this budget-cutting era.

Presenting the VFW Gold Medal and Citation to the Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment, plus hosting more than 70 wounded warriors and their families to dinner at the National Press Club.
Awarding a $30,000 scholarship Sunday evening to Elizabeth Scannell from Goose Creek, S.C., the winner of the annual VFW Voice of Democracy program, a patriotic-themed contest that this year judged 50,000 high school student entries. She was joined by Lydia Macfarlan from Siloam Springs, Ark., who beat almost 125,000 other middle school students to win a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond in the VFW’s annual Patriot’s Pen contest. 
          
And receiving checks for $1 million from USAA Executive Vice President and retired Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, $450,000 from Burger King franchisee owner Mike DeRosa, and earlier, $450,000 from Sports Clips founder and CEO Gordon Logan. All donations will help the VFW and the VFW Foundation reinforce their nationwide support programs for military and veterans.

A video of the hearing is posted on the VFW homepage at www.vfw.org.

Click here to read Richard DeNoyer's testimony.

VFW Representatives Met with Senator Bernie Sanders on Critical Issues

VFW National Legislative Committee member Ed Laviletta and Iraq and Afghanistan Committee member, Joe Lumsden, along with Women Veterans’ Committee members Catherine DeMarco, Brenda Cruiekshank and Department Commander Ronald Tallman all met with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) this morning to discuss VFW critical issues.

Senator Sanders, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hailed VFW’s work in the state of Vermont and spoke about several VFW issues he remains firmly committed to – they included funding for women veterans health care, ending homelessness and helping ease the transition for active duty, guard and reserve members when they return home. Below are photos captured from their meeting with the Senator.

VFW members are in town to meet with their legislators as part of their annual Legislative Conference which ends with the Commander-in-Chief testifying before a joint session of the House and Senate VA Committees on Wednesday morning.

More to come today and tomorrow as the Legislative Conference continues here in Washington D.C.

McKeon Receives VFW Congressional Award

The VFW selected House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) to receive its 2012 VFW Congressional Award for his outstanding service to the nation’s military and to a strong and secure America.

“The chairman fights to strengthen our military and to invest in a force that can meet and beat any threat,” said VFW National Commander Richard L. DeNoyer. “He also led efforts to keep terrorist detainees off of U.S. soil, increased missile defense funding, restored the tradition of keeping nondefense social issues out of the defense bill, and is a leading voice to keep the military intact in this budget-cutting era. Our military and veterans’ communities of past and present have no better friend in Congress than Chairman McKeon.”

The Tuesday afternoon award presentation is part of the VFW’s annual legislative conference that sees almost 300 VFW members visit their elected officials to discuss issues important to the veterans, service members and their families. Topmost this year is to protect the Department of Veterans Affairs budget from mandatory cuts if sequestration occurs, and to defeat the Defense Department’s negative quality of life proposals that would restrict military pay, substantially increase Tricare costs on military dependents and retirees, and overhaul a military retirement system into something more suitable for civilian companies.

“There is no military personnel issue more sacrosanct than pay and benefits,” said DeNoyer, a retired Marine and Vietnam combat veteran.

“A secure America needs a strong military, which is one of many reasons why Chairman McKeon was selected for this year’s award,” he said. “Messing with military pay and benefits is a clear signal to the troops and their families that the budget is more important than people. That money-first mindset is going to seriously hurt recruiting and retention, and potentially end the all-volunteer force.”

These and other important issues will be addressed in detail Wednesday when DeNoyer testifies before a joint hearing of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees. Other high-interest topics range from military transition and employment assistance programs to education, the proper care and treatment of wounded warriors, women veterans, the 1.7 million VA claims workload, and combating veteran suicides and homelessness, among others.

Check www.vfw.org/vfwlivestream early Wednesday afternoon to watch the delayed stream of the testimony. The testimony will also be available for viewing on-demand later Wednesday.

VFW Takes the Hill: An Advocate's Point of View by Army Veteran Phil Patterson

Our next advocate's submission leading up to the 2012 VFW National Legislative Conference comes from Department of Michigan's Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Committee chairman and Iraq war Army veteran Phil Patterson. Be on the look-out for more stories from VFW advocates coming to Washington tomorrow to meet with leaders in Congress leading up to VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard L. DeNoyer’s testimony before a special joint session of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees on March 7:

I feel coming to Washington is one way that I can carry on the messages for those who cannot be here to express their concerns themselves. I am here to help promote the ideals of our organization by visiting our legislators on Capitol Hill; to explain to them the needs of our active military veterans such as housing, family care, education and medical [care] just to name a few.

I need to be here to stress the importance of the VA’s budget; we need to explain the importance of our funding and why we cannot afford to have it reduced. We are training our [veterans service organizations] and their service officers; educating them and now we are being told that our budget is being cut once again. We need this funding to keep going, to keep providing our veterans with the services that they deserve. Without proper funding this will only cause our service officers who we have invested in and trained to turn elsewhere for better paying jobs.

I would like to ask why it is that veterans have to fight to keep everything that we have been told that will be an entitlement, or to fight so hard for what we need? We have fought for this country and now we come home to battle with our own administration for what we have earned and are now trying to keep.

As a Desert Storm and [Operation Iraqi Freedom III] veteran, this is why I came to Washington. After all, if we do not help ourselves then who will? This is why we “Honor the dead by helping the living.”

Phil Patterson is a retired Army master sergeant as a vehicle maintenance supervisor in both Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005. Since leaving the military, Patterson continues to serve his fellow veterans as a life member of David A. Huhn VFW Post 12082 in Ionia, Mich. He has served as his post commander and captain and earned an Outstanding Community Service award for his post. Patterson is joining the VFW in Washington as a national co-chairman of the VFW Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Committee.


(Images: Top: Phil Patterson as a Post All-American Commander in 2011. Bottom: Patterson, left, working on a vehicle in Al Taqaddum, Iraq in 2005. Photos courtesy of Phil Patterson.)

Thanks to Our Readers, VFW Blog Sets Traffic Record

In February -- the shortest month of the year -- the VFW Capitol Hill blog shattered its monthly traffic record with more than 11,000 visitors reading stories and posting comments. The staff of the VFW Washington office wants to thank our readers and supporters for joining the conversation.

We hope you have enjoyed receiving timely and accurate information directly from our office about our day-to-day work here in Washington, and we sincerely appreciate the kind of feedback we've received. Your feedback has helped to inform our decision-making on issues like proposed changes to military benefits and retirement compensation, veterans' health care, and unemployment.

Since Kansas City gave us our own blog, we've seen traffic continue to grow precipitously each month. We know the best is yet to come, which is why we hope you will continue to read and share our stories, and submit stories of your own. After all, members of Congress only listen to us because of the work the VFW does in their home districts.

This month, we received several submissions from advocates coming to Washington for the 2012 VFW Legislative Conference, which you can read on the blog now. We love receiving these kinds of personal stories, and we hope to host more content like this moving forward.

If you have stories or photos of your own veterans' advocacy work you would like us to consider, send them in an email to vfwac@vfw.org. If you want to know the kinds of information we're looking for, we will soon offer an easy "After Action Report" worksheet on the VFW in DC homepage where you simply have to fill in the blanks, and we'll take care of the rest. Once it's live, we'll also post it on this blog.

The voice of our 2 million members truly resonates in Washington. This is why veterans' employment legislation was the only American jobs bill signed into law last year. This is why Congressmen flood the hopper with bills on veterans' issues each election cycle. Let's show them what the VFW is capable of.

In the coming months, we plan to introduce some new interactive features on the blog, like interactive live webchats on veterans' issues and quick videos explaining bills critical to the VFW.

Thank you, again, for making our blog a success. Keep reading and we'll keep working to ensure veterans' issues are a top priority in Washington.

VFW Takes the Hill: An Advocate's Point of View by Army Veteran George Creighton

Our next advocate's submission leading up to the 2012 VFW National Legislative Conference comes from Department of Maryland's National Legislative Committee member and Vietnam Army veteran George C. Creighton. Be on the look-out for more stories from VFW advocates coming to Washington tomorrow to meet with leaders in Congress leading up to VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard L. DeNoyer’s testimony before a special joint session of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees on March 7:

When I returned home after two combat tours in Vietnam as an infantry officer, I felt disillusioned by what had become of my country. After my first tour, which ended in 1967, I was greeted by my family at McGuire [Air Force Base] in New Jersey. After my second tour, ending in 1969, I entered the [United States] in California. I avoided the negative sentiments of the American people towards Vietnam veterans by taking the red-eye flight from San Francisco to Baltimore in civilian clothes. For years after returning, I remained aloof of veteran affairs and activities; even did not attend the prestigious Officers of the First Infantry Division annual banquet.

When the victory of Desert Storm occurred, my wife and I visited a seriously wounded friend of my nephew in Walter Reed hospital. I saw the great effort that was required to help our soldiers and decided I needed to get involved. At the local level, I went through the chairs to become post commander of Bowie, [Md.,] Memorial Post 8065, and then went on to become commander of Maryland VFW District 17. At the same time, my regular work was in the pharmaceutical industry as a salesman and lobbyist in Washington, D.C. My eyes were opened again when my friend, VFW Department of Maryland Past Commander Ray Shipley, started a VFW program to meet and greet [troops] going to and from Iraq at the Baltimore airport. Once again I saw quite clearly the need to help our veterans. With no end in sight to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with my lobbying experience through my professional career, I realized that I could get things done on Capitol Hill. I was appointed to represent Maryland on the VFW National Legislative Committee. I was fortunate to receive excellent support from the Maryland congressional delegation. I continue to serve on that committee.

As a result of my work and the help of many Maryland VFW members and other service organizations, I became chairman of the Joint Veterans Committee of Maryland. My work with all the veteran service organizations in Maryland to protect and improve entitlements to veterans culminated in 2008 with my honor of the appointment as Maryland's Veteran of the Year. At the same time, I continued my work on the VFW National Legislative Committee.

In addition to mobilizing support for the VFW goals in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, I was able to get many bills through the Maryland General Assembly which assured adequate resources for VA benefits and compensation, and assured a better quality of life for veterans. Some of that legislation included ensuring that the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home received adequate funding; the POW/MIA flag be flown at all Maryland highway rest stops; and that funerals of our veterans not be disturbed by protesters. Other legislation I worked hard for established an increase of the tax exemption on military retired pay from $2,500 to $5,000 and provided benefits for disabled and war wounded veterans in areas not covered by the federal benefits program. All these successes were supported by Maryland Governors Robert Ehrlich and Martin O'Malley, and by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. My wife, Laudine, and I had the honor of meeting President Obama when he visited the VFW Washington offices in 2007 when he was senator from Illinois and was serving on the Senate Veterans [Affairs] Committee.

I continue to support veterans issues and legislative efforts in the Maryland General Assembly, and the agenda of the VFW National Legislative Committee. My motto is “Leave no veteran behind.”

George C. Creighton is a former Army infantry officer who served two tours in Vietnam. Today, Creighton represents the VFW Department of Maryland on the VFW National Legislative Committee. In 2008, he was honored by the state of Maryland as its Veteran of the Year.

(Images: Top: George C. Creighton, right, stands behind then-Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich, signing veterans' legislation into law. Bottom: Creighton, right, meets with then-Sen. Barack Obama at the VFW Washington office in 2007. Photos courtesy of George C. Creighton.)

VFW Takes the Hill: An Advocate's Point of View by retired Navy Corpsman Joe Lumsden

Our third advocate submission leading up to the 2012 VFW National Legislative Conference comes from Department of Vermont Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Committee Chairman and retired Navy Corpsman Joe Lumsden. Be on the look-out for another story tomorrow from a VFW advocate who will be coming to Washington on March 3 to meet with leaders in Congress leading up to VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard L. DeNoyer’s testimony before a special joint session of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees on March 7:

What really matters when you come to Washington, D.C., are issues concerning veterans. Your rank, political affiliation, sex, or the color of your skin play no role. What makes a statement, however, is unity. In a time where many different organizations form to represent a single conflict, the Veterans of Foreign Wars remains focused on fighting for all.

This March will be no different as generations of combat veterans "Storm the Hill" to address issues like healthcare, education, retirement and budget cuts. This is my second visit to our Nation's Capitol representing the state of Vermont as their Iraq and Afghanistan chairman.

I spent the last year traveling around my state listening to hundreds of veterans and their families while doing my [college] senior internship promoting the VFW. The conversations started out with [Voice of Democracy] and the Patriot's Pen essay contest, or teacher awards and college scholarships. Then conversations shifted to stories of the VA and the backlog of claims, or unemployment; and what shocked me more were the tears of frustration.

I made a promise that I would continue to be their voice and continue to fight for what's right. Some said they had no fight left in them, some wanted direction and leadership to continue the fight.

"What's in it for me?" -- a question asked many times about joining the VFW. This was asked of my state commander during a Yellow Ribbon ceremony by a young returning veteran. He turned him around to face the VA hospital and said, "That's for you, but it takes fighters like us to keep it."

Joe Lumsden is a retired Navy hospital corpsman who deployed during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and returned to serve in Iraq again in 2003. In 2011, Lumsden served as a national co-chairman of the VFW Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Committee. He continues to serve today as Vermont's Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Committee chairman and membership chairman. Lumsden was also recently appointed as Vermont VFW National Deputy Chief of Staff by the department commander. Lumsden will also graduate this spring with Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Vermont College with a minor in history and politics. 

(Images: Top: Joe Lumsden during the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Committee meeting at the 2011 VFW National Convention in San Antonio. Official VFW photo. Bottom: Lumsden, far right, and his fellow chairmen of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Committee speak with Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry during the 2011 VFW National Convention. Photo by Ryan Gallucci.)