“Finish Strong:” Highlights from Connecticut Delegation Meetings

VFW National Legislative Committee members Bob Hunter from Connecticut and Christian Kulikoski from Massachusetts met with Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., Rep. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., as part of last week’s Capitol Hill visits, telling the 112th Congress to “Finish Strong For Veterans.”

Hunter and Kulikoski spent the day highlighting the VFW's priorities and outstanding issues to members of the Connecticut congressional delegation. Kulikoski, who also serves as a Massachusetts VFW Department Service Officer, was well-versed in health care and benefits delivery, and highlighted the hot-button issues such as stopping DoD efforts to increase TRICARE fees and copays, ensuring the successful implementation of the Veterans Benefit Management System, or VBMS, and providing more resources to deliver educational benefits.

Hunter, who serves as the VFW Legislative Chairman for Connecticut, punctuated the issues by highlighting DoD's reallocation of nearly three billion dollars over the past three years from TRICARE to fund other DoD programs. He also encouraged his members on Congress to seriously consider giving VA the tools to continuously improve their business processes, while dealing with the disability claims backlog. Both committee members discussed the alarming 18-percent rise in veteran suicides over the past year, and all members of the Connecticut delegation agreed more effort must be directed to curbing the losses of our comrades when they return home.

Hunter also discussed VFW’s progress locally, seeking to shut down predatory non-profit organizations claiming to serve veterans. The VFW in Connecticut learned that one such organization was doing little more than raising money for their benefit, while only disbursing meager amounts of aide to veterans in need.

Blumenthal, who is working closely with the VFW Department of Connecticut to spearhead this fight, let Hunter know that VA has begun to aggressively reassess those organizations listed as “trusted entities” providing additional help and services to veterans. He went on to say that the organization in question has since been removed from VA's list of trusted organizations.

Last week, VFW advocates were out in force on Capitol Hill, meeting with nearly every Congressional office, highlighting VFW’s outstanding issues for the 112th Congress. To learn more about the VFW’s priorities from last week’s legislative visits, click here, and check back regularly for highlights of how our advocates told Congress to “Finish Strong For Veterans.”

(Image: Top: VFW Legislative Committee members Bob Hunter, left, and Christian Kulikoski, right, meet with Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., during last week's legislative conference. Bottom: Hunter and his wife, Lynn, meet with Rep. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. Photos courtesy of Bob Hunter.)