What Do You Think? Supreme Court Overturns Stolen Valor Act

This week, the Supreme Court rattled the veterans’ community with its decision to overturn the Stolen Valor Act of 2005. The Stolen Valor Act prohibited citizens for falsely claiming or wearing military awards, and could be punished with fines or up to a year in prison.

The Supreme Court determined that falsely claiming military medals constituted free speech, and thus deemed the Stolen Valor Act’s restrictions unconstitutional. Still, the high court also mentioned in their 6-3 decision that a more narrowly defined law in the future might perhaps survive a First Amendment free speech challenge. To read the court’s opinion, click here.

“The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is greatly disappointed in today’s Supreme Court decision that overturns the Stolen Valor Act of 2005,” said VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard L. DeNoyer in a statement yesterday.

DeNoyer went on to say that the VFW will continue to challenge and publicize the exploits of false heroes to serve as a deterrent to others who wish to usurp the valor of America’s military men and women.

Now we want to know what you think. Take a few moments to answer our poll on the Supreme Court’s Stolen Valor Act ruling, and please leave your comments.

What do you think about the Supreme Court decision to overturn the Stolen Valor Act of 2005?

It was the wrong decision.I don't like it, but I guess it constitutes free speechIt was the right decision.Other (Please specify in comments)

pollcode.com free polls

House Moves Series of VFW-Supported Legislation

This week, each of the House Veterans Affairs subcommittees moved more than a dozen bills to the full committee for consideration, many of which the VFW has vocally supported in recent testimony.

House VA Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs: 

On Wednesday afternoon, the House VA Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs marked up and passed three bills, H.R. 5735, H.R. 5881, and H.R. 5880.

H.R. 5735, which the VFW helped to draft, was amended to not only commission a "Place of Remembrance" for unclaimed remains of American service members, but it will also clarify that burial proceedings at National Cemetery Administration facilities must reflect the wishes of the grieving family and that veterans convicted as Tier Three sex offenders or who receive life imprisonment will be excluded from burial in national cemeteries.

H.R. 5881, the Access to Veterans Benefits Improvement Act, was amended to reflect the wishes of the VFW to ensure that only properly vetted employees, such as VA employees, tracking officers, county service officers and VSO service officers, with proper need to access a veteran's claim information can have access to sensitive VA database information.

H.R. 5880, the Veterans Disability Examination Access Improvement Act, was passed without amendments. VFW vocally supported this bill in testimony before the subcommittee earlier this month.

To read VFW's full testimony on each of these bills, click here.

House VA Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations: 

On Wednesday morning, the House VA Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation marked up and passed three bills, H.R. 3730, H.R. 4481, and H.R. 5948.

H.R. 3740, the Veterans Data Breach Timely Notification Act, was amended and passed to require VA to notify the VA secretary of any data breach within 10 days, then notify the affected veteran within the next 10 days, finally notifying the public within the subsequent 10 days.

H.R. 5948, the Veterans Fiduciary Reform Act of 2012, was amended in the form of a substitute and passed to add further protections and oversight on VA fiduciaries to protect veterans. The amendment initiates harsher penalties to organizations and businesses that seek to scam or take advantage of VA beneficiaries or their fiduciaries.

H.R. 4481, the Veterans Affairs Employee Accountability Act, which would prohibit VA employees who violate federal acquisition laws from receiving bonuses, also passed the committee.

The subcommittee hosted a hearing on each of these bills earlier this month. To view a full list of witnesses and to read their prepared remarks, click here.

House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity: 

On Thursday morning, the House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity marked up and passed five bills, H.R. 4057, H.R. 4115, H.R. 4740, H.R. 3524, and H.R. 5747.

The VFW was paying close attention to H.R. 4057, the Improving Transparency of Education Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2012; a bill which VFW legislative staff worked diligently to introduce. The bill was amended to include specific disclosures VA would have to make to potential student-veterans as part of pre-enrollment counseling available to G.I. Bill recipients. The VFW has been the leading voice in Washington advocating for improved student-veteran consumer information and consumer protections, which is why the VFW has pushed for this bill and similar bills in the Senate.

H.R. 3524, the Disabled Veterans Employment Protection Act, was amended to allow disabled veterans not covered under the Family Medical Leave Act an additional four weeks of leave from work in a calendar year for treatment of service-connected injuries. The subcommittee originally proposed 12 weeks of additional leave, but was concerned that employers would balk at the prospect of hiring veterans with such a strong provision.

During testimony earlier this spring, the VFW pointed out that VA must adapt its treatment options to allow service-connected disabled veterans to schedule care around reasonable work schedules. The VFW contends that it is not fair to the veteran or to his or her employer if VA can only schedule appointments during the work day.

H.R. 4115, the HIRE at HOME Act, which the VFW helped to craft, passed favorably, along with H.R. 4740, the Fairness for Military Homeowners Act, and H.R. 5747, the Military Family Home Protection Act.

The VFW testified on each of these bills within the last few months. To read our testimony on H.R. 4057 and H.R. 3524, click here. To read our testimony on H.R. 4115, H.R. 4740 and H.R. 5747, click here. 

House VA Subcommittee on Health:

On Friday morning, the House VA Subcommittee on Health marked up and passed two bills, H.R. 3337 and H.R. 4079.

The VFW has been a vocal advocate for H.R. 3337, the Open Burn Pit Registry Act, helping to introduce the bill late last year, and even helping to introduce a companion bill in the Senate, with the help of the burn pit exposure advocacy group Burn Pits 360. The bill easily passed the subcommittee.

H.R. 4079, the Safe Housing for Homeless Veterans Act, was also amended and passed the subcommittee, ensuring housing for homeless veterans meets safe living standards.

The VFW testified on each of these bills in April. To read VFW's full testimony, click here.

The VFW will continue to track each of these bills as they move through committee, possibly to be included in another veterans' benefits omnibus package later this fall. Check back regularly for updates.

VFW Applauds State Attorneys General for Protecting Student-Vets

The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) applauded the work of 20 state attorneys general, who announced this morning that the Web site GIBill.com had officially been turned over to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and that the Web site’s owner, QuinStreet, would pay $2.5 million to states as part of a settlement for fraudulent recruiting practices.

The VFW joined Sens. Dick Durbin, Tom Harkin, Richard Blumenthal, and Kay Hagan; state attorneys general Jack Conway, Beau Biden, and Lisa Madigan; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Assistant Director of Service Member Affairs Holly Petreaus; VA Deputy Secretary W. Scott Gould and veterans' advocates this morning to announce the settlement at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

“Since the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill took effect in 2009, the VFW has had a vested interest in ensuring our veterans have access to the quality education they earned,” said VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci, an Iraq War veteran who used his G.I. Bill benefits to earn his college degree. “The VFW was one of the first organizations to call attention to these kinds of misleading and dubious practices, designed to lure veterans into programs that will not help their career aspirations, and we’re proud to see that states have taken decisive action.”

For nearly a year, the VFW has said that potential student-veterans are often inundated with incomplete and, sometimes, downright inaccurate information when they seek to take advantage of their earned education benefits. Companies like QuinStreet maintain entities intentionally designed to look like official government resources purporting that student-veterans can only use benefits at schools who pay for sponsorships.

In addition to action from state attorneys general, the VFW has also voiced its support to VA’s efforts to copyright the phrase “G.I. Bill” to offer protections to beneficiaries of the benefit, similar to existing copyrights that protect Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries from fraud.

The VFW is also working diligently to improve consumer education tools for student-veterans to ensure that VA and the military can level the playing field by offering quality information to potential student-veterans by supporting legislation that would improve pre-enrollment counseling as well as consumer protections for veterans who believe they have been victims of fraud, waste and abuse.

“Before we ask our troops to make life-or-death decisions on the battlefield, we provide them with the best training, equipment and information to make the right choice. This is why we have the most competent and professional military in the world,” said Gallucci. “If we prepare our student-veterans with the same vigilance, the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill will mold our nation’s next Greatest Generation, as we intended.”

The VFW helped to draft a recent presidential executive order to improve current G.I. Bill protections, and the VFW continues to vigorously push both the House and Senate to move on pending legislation that will improve consumer information and consumer protections for student-veterans.

(Image: Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conwey demonstrates the version of GIBill.com that sparked he and 19 other state attorneys general to investigate QuinStreet during today's press conference at the National Press Club. Photo by Ryan Gallucci.)

VFW Joins Defense and VA Officials to Discuss Suicide Prevention

This week, the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs hosted their joint annual suicide prevention conference in Washington, D.C. VFW Senior Legislative Associate Shane Barker was on hand for a number of presentations, including this afternoon's intriguing remarks about post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

“Secretary Panetta reinforced many of the hallmarks of our public message” said Barker, who handles military health policy issues for the VFW Washington office. "To the VFW, the alarming suicide rates we've seen among today's veterans indicate that we still haven't done enough to properly identify and treat invisible wounds. It will take a concerted effort on the part of the military, VA, Congress, and veterans' advocates to sufficiently address this issue, and we are encouraged to see so many agencies coming together to discuss this issue."

Panetta discussed his four pillars for addressing the mental health challenges our military personnel and veterans endure: Improving leadership, ensuring access to quality treatment; achieving parity between mental and physical health in all aspects of military culture, and emphasizing research into the brain within DoD.

“Secretary Panetta referred to PTSD as ‘the signature unseen wound’ of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Barker. “This is an important distinction, as it brings into focus the importance of actively going out and identifying mental health challenges within the ranks without minimizing the need to address the multitudes of other very serious injuries in these conflicts, such as traumatic eye injury, traumatic brain injury, and serious hearing loss.”

Secretary Panetta and others stressed the importance of working more closely with VA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the private sector.

Your VFW will continue to watch the changing approach to mental health services very closely to ensure improved services and outcomes for all military personnel and veterans. In the meantime, If you are a veteran in crisis, help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week though the Veterans Crisis Line. Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and press “1” to speak to someone now. You can also log on to www.veteranscrisisline.net for confidential chat or text a message to 838255.

Watch: VFW Testifies on Veterans’ Economic Opportunity Bills

Update: The archived webcast from today's hearing is now available by clicking here. 

This morning, your VFW testified before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity on four pieces of pending legislation designed to protect service members’ financial interests and offer improved employment opportunities and protections for veterans.

The started at 10 a.m. in the committee’s chambers, room 334 of the Cannon House Office Building. To view a full list of witnesses and to read their prepared remarks, click here.

VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci testified before the subcommittee, lending the VFW’s support to bills improving protections for military home owners, H.R. 4740 and H.R. 5747, and a bill that seeks to close licensing gaps for veterans, H.R. 4115.

The VFW worked closely with the American Legion to push for H.R. 4115, the HIRE at HOME Act, which was introduced by Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, and would mandate that states consider military training and experience when issuing licenses for medical professionals and truck drivers. The VFW suggested that the subcommittee should add language similar to the Senate companion bill, which would outline how states would report on licensing gaps from veteran applicants, and how Department of Labor would subsequently share that information with the Pentagon in an effort to eliminate such gaps.

The VFW also applauded Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., for introducing their bills to improve the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA. Cummings' bill, H.R. 5747, would strengthen foreclosure protections and enforcement for deployed service members, surviving spouses and disabled veterans, which Hunter's bill, H.R. 4740, would allow military families to refinance mortgages on homes they own at old duty stations, even though it is no longer a primary residence.

Gallucci also voiced the VFW’s concerns on the proposal in H.R. 3860 to exclude large businesses from claiming financial hardship exemptions under the Uniformed Servicemembers Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA, explaining that such a drastic change could prevent service members and veterans from finding employment.

The VFW's position was at odds with other panelists from the American Legion and the Reserve Officers Assocation, but Gallucci stressed that poor enforcement of current policy was actually what prevented service members covered under USERRA from returning to their jobs.

Gallucci also pointed to a recent study from the Center for a New American Security, which reported that employers sometimes do not make the distinction between veterans and service members with Guard and Reserve obligations, and that legal obligations tied to deployments -- specifically USERRA -- may actually prevent companies from even allowing veterans in the door.

Your VFW will continue to follow each of these bills as they move through the House. Check back regularly for updates.

(Image: VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci, left, testifies before the House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity alongside American Legion National Economic Division Associate Director Steve Gonzalez and Reserve Officers Association Executive Director, retired Major Gen. Drew Davis. Photo by Jimmy Petersen.)

Watch: VFW Testifies on VA Claims Process

Update: The archived webcast of this hearing is now available by clicking here. 

This morning the VFW testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee on the VA disability claims process transformation.

The hearing started at 10:30 a.m. in the committee’s chambers, room 334 of the Cannon House Office Building. To view a full list of witnesses and to read their prepared remarks, click here.

VFW Deputy National Veterans Service Director Jerry Manar presented the VFW’s thoughts on the transformation plan for the Veterans Benefits Administration, or VBA, which centers on the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS), a program intended to digitize the disability claims process.

In his remarks, Manar commended current VA leadership for their initiative to improve the claims process, but he also told the committee that the veterans’ community should not expect too much from the initial VBMS roll-out. Manar compared the new program to a foundation for a new house, intended to replace an aging, ad-hoc infrastructure of computer systems incapable of interacting with one another.

Manar went on to say that VBA should not introduce VBMS until it has been fully stressed to identify short comings, but that VBA must walk a fine line between rolling out the program too soon and delaying too long while seeking to fix any and all problems.

During his testimony, Manar also discussed VA’s new Simplified Notification Letters for veteran claimants, which the VFW believes do not provide adequate information to properly inform a claimant on how VA arrived at its rating decision.

Your VFW and our cadre of claims service officers will continue to monitor progress and identify ways to improve the VA claims process to ensure timely delivery of benefits to our veterans.

What Do You Think? Senate Seeks Commission on Retiree Benefits

As part of the VFW's ongoing work protecting the Department of Defense from sequestration and other budget cuts affecting those who volunteer to serve today or may volunteer to serve in the future, we watch and listen very closely for clues about changes to military pay, military quality-of-life programs, and the military retirement system.

As the full Senate prepares to debate the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the VFW must highlight a controversial provision in the committee-passed version of the bill that we believe would jeopardize the military retirement benefit. Title XVI of the bill (S. 3254) would establish an advisory committee known as the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission. The stated purpose of the Commission is to achieve fiscal sustainability for the military compensation and retirement systems, and the Commission's recommendations would then be accepted by strictly an up or down vote, without the opportunity to debate or amend.

This stated purpose not only implies that the current system is unsustainable, but it also assumes that the cost is not worth the expense. As you have read before on this blog, the VFW vehemently disagrees. As we read the fine print of the language establishing this Commission, we were disturbed to find that the provisions would prevent anyone who works for a Veteran or Military Service Organization to sit on the Commission, and would further prevent anyone from serving on the Commission who had worked for a VSO or MSO within the last year. In other words, the VFW and other groups who advocate for you have no voice – meaning the voices of our more than two million members and advocates would be effectively silenced.

As if this wasn't bad enough, the Commission's final recommendations on changing the retirement system would then be put strictly to an up-or-down vote in Congress, meaning the VFW and other advocates would never have an opportunity to evaluate the Commission's report or make recommendations that represent the best interest of our veterans.

We believe that stacking the deck against service members and shutting veterans out of a discussion on the future of the military compensation and retirement system is totally unconscionable, and that this Commission must be stopped before it’s too late. The provisions establishing this Commission are not in the House-passed version of the NDAA, and there’s still time for you to contact your Senators to express your opposition to establishing this Commission before the bill comes to the floor.

Over the last few months, thousands of VFW members and advocates, like retired Petty Officer Hal Cleveland, mobilized to fight TRICARE premium increases, increases that Congress ultimately eliminated from the NDAA. Congress listened to our voice before; we can make them listen again. To learn how you can contact your representatives and tell them to oppose the Commission, click here.

Finally, let us know what you think about the potential establishment of this Commission by taking our short poll, and don't forget to leave your comments below.

Do you think this Commission would have the best interest of service members and retirees in mind?

Yes No

pollcode.com free polls

If this Commission drastically changed military retirement benefits, would you continue to serve or encourage others to serve a full career?

Yes No

pollcode.com free polls

Would your Senator's stance on this issue weigh into your decision on election day?

Yes No

pollcode.com free polls

Watch: Senate to Discuss Veterans’ Education and Employment Bills

Update: An archived webcast of the hearing is now available by clicking here. 

This morning the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hosted a hearing on pending education and employment legislation. Your VFW submitted comments on each of the bills up for discussion, and VFW staff was on hand to hear from each panelist.

The hearing came to order at 10 a.m. in room 418 of the Senate Russell Office Building. To view a live full list of witnesses and to read their prepared remarks, click here.

The committee discussed 18 pieces of legislation introduced over the last year. In particular, the VFW is interested in three education bills introduced by Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash.; original World War II G.I. Bill recipient Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.; and Post-9/11 G.I. Bill champion Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.

The VFW supports Murray’s G.I. Bill Consumer Awareness Act (S. 2241), Lautenberg’s G.I. Educational Freedom Act (S. 2206), and Webb’s Military and Veterans Educational Reform Act (S. 2179), which is why the VFW calls on the committee to work quickly to pass an omnibus veterans’ education package, including key provisions from each bill.

The VFW also voiced support for bills that would streamline state licensing procedures for military personnel, and a series of bills designed to strengthen financial and job protections for service members and their loved ones through the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA, and the Uniformed Servicemembers Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA.

VFW has been a leader in building consensus among veterans' advocates and higher education to better serve student-veterans. VFW will continue to follow each of these bills closely as they move through committee. Check back regularly for updates.

(Image: The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hears testimony from Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.; Mark Udall, D-Utah; and Jack Reed, D-R.I., on their bills up for discussion before the committee. Photo by Ryan Gallucci.)

We Were Supposed to do a Webinar Today…

This afternoon, the interagency committee tasked with implementing the president’s recent executive order on veterans’ education planned to host a webinar for veterans’ advocates and higher education stakeholders to outline how VA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Education planned to implement the new directive.

The VFW has played a lead role in building consensus among leaders in higher education and the veterans’ community, sparking decisive action from Congress and the White House on the issue. Unfortunately, when it came time to log on to the webinar, the VFW was locked out.

Military OneSource, the DoD service tasked with hosting the webinar, said in an email that they overbooked the system, locking out groups like the VFW who had registered to participate last week. The email went on to explain that a subsequent webinar would be hosted next Friday and the presentation would be available to the public in two weeks online.

“To the VFW, this course of action is unacceptable,” said VFW Executive Director Bob Wallace. “We’ve been persistent advocates on this issue and we deserve to know how VA, the Pentagon and higher education intend to implement the executive order in order to best represent our veterans’ needs. It’s highly unprofessional and completely unacceptable to ask the VFW and our partner organizations to wait another week to learn about this program.”

The VFW was one of the few veterans’ organizations invited to testify on the president’s executive order, Executive Order #13607, before the House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity two weeks ago. To learn more about the hearing and the executive order, click here.

(Image: Screengrab of the VFW's lock-out screen from today's webinar on Executive Order #13607.)

Watch: VFW Testifies on Veterans’ Assistance Bills

*Update: The archived webcast of yesterday's hearing is now available online by clicking here. 

Yesterday afternoon the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs hosted a hearing on pending legislation, and VFW Legislative Director Ray Kelley shared VFW’s thoughts with the subcommittee on each bill under consideration.

The hearing came to order at 2 p.m. in the committee’s chambers, room 334 of the Cannon House Office building on Capitol Hill. To view a full list of the bills under consideration, a full list of witnesses, and to read their prepared remarks, click here.

During his remarks, Kelley voiced the VFW’s support for bills ranging from properly honoring fragmented remains of our nation’s fallen heroes to extending critical benefit-delivery programs for veterans, such as the authority of VA to contract with non-VA doctors to perform examinations and the authority of VA to offer adaptive housing accommodations for veterans under the care of family members.

Kelley also expressed cautious support to a proposal that would allow congressional staffers and local government officials to access veteran-specific information on pending VA disability claims, calling for provisions in the bill to ensure information privacy and proper oversight on access.

Texas VFW District 4 Senior Vice Commander Jay Sanders also testified on the Houston VA Cemetery controversy and proposed legislation designed to clarify veterans’ burial rights. Sanders was on hand to offer his local perspective on the issue.

(Images: Top: House VA Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Chairman John Runyan, R-N.J., delivers his opening remarks during yesterday's legislative hearing. Bottom: VFW National Legislative Director Ray Kelley, left, shares the VFW's thoughts on each bill under consideration during yesterday's hearing. Photos by Chase Collram.)

An Advocate’s Point of View by Retired Navy Petty Officer Hal Cleveland

Earlier this spring, we introduced several VFW members who shared their stories of advocacy leading up to the spring legislative conference in Washington, D.C. As we continue to hear how VFW members advocate on behalf of their fellow veterans, we want to continue sharing their stories. This week, retired Navy Petty Officer Hal Cleveland tells us why he advocates for veterans and how he recently mobilized his fellow VFW members to tell Congress to protect military retirees and their earned health care benefits.

I have been advocating for veterans since I retired from the U.S. Navy in 1993. From my first involvement with the various veterans’ service organizations I belong to, I have been promoting and communicating legislative actions and news about veterans to anyone that will listen.

I have used the internet to scout for veterans who are willing to use the CapWiz prewritten emails to write our elected members in Washington. However, I realized that a letter here or there was not getting the message across, so I decided to concentrate on my local VFW post, VFW district commander, as well as all veterans who were willing to sign up with me in the congressional district where I live. My reasoning for this was that the more letters a representative or senators receives, the better chance that he or she would take notice of our issues – the squeaky wheel gets the grease theory. Everyone knows that not all the letters get read, but they do get counted and are categorized by subject, so if there was someone in every congressional district in the country that was a VFW legislative advocate, we could make our voices heard!

There is a thin line between advocating for veterans benefits and being political, and many veterans do not know where that line is. I have lived by an old saying of “all politics are local.”

I developed email groups of the various service organizations I belong to, and I am the service officer for my local VFW post. It is a small post and most, if not all, of the members do not require my services as a service officer. This is why I tend to embrace the legislative aspect. I find that there are more non-members who approach me about benefits than members. However, I do enlist the membership’s help in getting Congress to keep or improve what benefits that other veterans have earned.

Last month, the post purchased envelopes, labels and stamps, and I printed out more than 60 letters addressing our congressional representative and senators to stop the unfair increases in TRICARE [premiums]. I can’t say for certain that it worked, but the VFW [Washington] Weekly newsletter I received today states that the Senate Armed Service Committee voted to not allow the increases to TRICARE premiums. At the same time, we sent letters to the House Armed Services Committee and they also chose to not accept the premium increases.

There is a good saying that says, “If you don’t tell Congress otherwise, they will think everything is ok.”

The biggest obstacle that I have to overcome is that to me, it appears that most veterans are usually their own worst enemy. When something is hot and moving in Washington, I will ask a veteran to write in support of a given subject and their answer is always, “that does not affect me; why should I write?” Or, they will try and tie a political party to it. Regardless, you should hear them scream when they have an iron in the fire that they are interested in. Bottom line, if everyone would participate and if everyone sent one letter per week, we would speak with one loud and consistent voice.

I canvas all the legislative updates that I get from the various email subscriptions including the VFW and monthly I will post a legislative newsletter with a summarized version of what I have read. Not everyone responds by sending letters to their representative or their senators, but if they read it, they are more knowledgeable than the average person. Knowledge is a powerful tool, if they use it.

Twice a year we host a community service safety project, which I am chairman of this year, that serves free coffee and lemonade to the traveling public over the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. This gives me an opportunity to meet with comrades from other posts and also traveling veterans where I offer [our] newsletters to help educate them.

So there you have it. This is my input for suggestions on how I advocate for veterans. Thanks for the opportunity to share it with you.

Hal Cleveland retired from the U.S. Navy as a petty officer first class in 1993. During his time in the Navy, he deployed as an aviation maintenance administrationman in support of operations in Lebanon, Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf. Today, Hal continues to serve his fellow veterans as post service officer for Tri-Cities VFW Post 6872 in Crowley, Texas. To learn more about his post, click here. Photo courtesy of Hal Cleveland.  

To submit an Advocate's Point of View or a Field Report for consideration on the VFW’s Capitol Hill blog, simply fill out our online form here, or send photos and stories directly to vfwac@vfw.org.  

House Passes VFW-supported Bill to Protect TSA's Guard and Reserve Employees

This week, your VFW is one step closer to better protecting the reemployment rights of Guard and Reservists who are employed at the Transportation Security Administration, which was exempt from complying with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act when it was created in the aftermath of 9/11.

On Wednesday evening, retired Army National Guard sergeant major and now Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., spoke passionately on the House floor in favor of his bill, H.R. 3670, which would close the USERRA loophole at TSA, and bring the agency into compliance with every other public and private employer that employs America's citizen-soldiers. His bill quickly passed, which now means that moving its companion bill, S. 1990, through the Senate floor is the final step. S. 1990 was introduced by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

"VFW became aware of a little-known loophole last September that allowed TSA to be exempt from USERRA," said VFW legislative associate Daniel Elkins, who helped to introduce and muster support for the bill.

After considerable research, the VFW approached Walz to introduce a bill to close the loophole, and after months of work pushing others to support it, “we can all stand proud knowing that we're now just one step away in the Senate from accomplishing our goal,” said Elkins, who currently serves in the Army National Guard. "I encourage all VFW members and advocates to urge their senators to support S. 1990. We are within an arm's reach of changing the face of TSA for the better, to ensure all service members receive fair treatment in the workplace."

To contact your senators to support S. 1990, click here.

Your VFW will keep you posted on the progress on our efforts to closer TSA's USERRA loophole. Check back regularly with this blog for updates.

Below is Walz's floor speech on H.R. 3670, broadcast on C-SPAN:

ICYMI: VA and Labor Officials Update Congress on VOW Act

In case you missed it:  Yesterday the House Veterans Affairs Committee hosted a hearing to discuss the implementation of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. Your VFW was on hand to hear VA and Department of Labor officials discuss progress in implementing provisions of the comprehensive veterans’ employment law, which the VFW helped Congress to pass late last year.

VA Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey and Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans Employment and Training Services Junior Ortiz appeared before the committee to explain how their agencies have collaborated to implement new programs established by the VOW Act.

To view a full list of yesterday's witnesses and to read their prepared remarks, click here. To view an archived webcast of the hearing, click here.

One of the VOW Act’s key provisions was the establishment of the Veterans Retraining Assistance, or VRAP, program, which offers one year of Montgomery G.I. Bill-style education benefits to unemployed veterans between the ages of 35-60 who are ineligible for other VA education benefit programs. In April, VA commissioned a web site to highlight programs like VRAP, and started accepting applications for the program on May 15 – two weeks ahead of the scheduled May 30 due date.

Hickey said that to date VA has received more than 12,000 applications to participate in the program, crediting the initial results to extensive outreach through the VFW and more than 200 nonprofit community organizations, as well as in military publications and local public service airtime.

House VA Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Ga., expressed concerns about VA and VETS outreach to veterans’ employment representatives at DOL employment one-stop centers across the country.

Ortiz admitted that VETS did not conduct early outreach because policies were not in place until early May. However, the department was able to quickly deliver accurate information to each one-stop, and hosted a successful webinar for workforce development staff prior to VRAP implementation on May 15.

During the hearing Hickey addressed concerns on over-enrollment in the initial roll-out of VRAP, explaining that if 45,001 veterans registered for the 45,000 available slots, the extra veteran would still be verified through the program and informed that he or she would be eligible to receive compensation for training starting Oct. 1, when an additional 54,000 slots become available.

Hickey also explained that to date, only 23 percent of veteran applicants have been turned away from the program, but that of this 23 percent, applicants were either not veterans or were eligible to use another VA education program. She then explained that VA was providing veterans with their notice-of-eligibility for those other VA education programs “in the same breath” as their denial for VRAP, allowing veterans to enroll in a program and receive their VA education benefits in a timely manner.

Since it was signed into law, veterans’ advocates have been skeptical about the one-year cap on benefits. Ortiz explained that veterans who enroll in the program will receive extensive follow-up from VETS to help find jobs once they exhaust their benefits, complete a career training program, or simply terminate enrollment.

The VFW will continue to monitor implementation of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, and we encourage veterans to log on to benefits.va.gov/VOW to learn if you are eligible to participate in any new programs. Check back regularly for updates.

(Image: Yesterday's House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on Department of Labor and VA implementation of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. Photo by Ryan Gallucci.)