VFW Joins House Democrats for Veterans Roundtable

*UPDATE: The Office of Management and Budget announced this afternoon that all VA accounts and military personnel accounts would be exempt from budget sequestration. 

Yesterday the VFW joined House Democratic leadership and some of the nation’s other leading veterans’ advocates for a roundtable discussion on veterans’ issues. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has routinely hosted quarterly roundtables with the veterans’ community for the last few years, offering veterans’ advocates an opportunity to candidly discuss ways in which Congress could work to better serve our veterans.

 VFW Deputy Director Ryan Gallucci joined in the discussion, expressing the VFW’s frustration over looming sequestration cuts to the defense budget and administrative accounts for Veterans Affairs. Gallucci pointed out that while the Obama Administration had clarified that VA health care accounts were exempt from sequestration, experts had indicated that VA’s administrative accounts could be subject to cuts.

The veterans’ community has asked for clarification from Congress and the Administration as to what kinds of administrative accounts could be affected, pointing out that the timely delivery of other VA benefits, like disability compensation or the G.I. Bill, could be affected if the administrators of those benefits are forced to scale back their operations.

House Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., tackled the issue by explaining that the Administration was scheduled to deliver their analysis of how sequestration would affect each agency, but that he and his fellow committee members were still searching for ways to avoid the looming 2013 deadline when across-the-board cuts would have to take place.

Other issues raised during the roundtable were the absence of advance appropriations in the VA budget continuing resolution currently before Congress, daunting unemployment numbers among Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, and the persistent lack of mental health resources for veterans suffering from the invisible wounds of war.

Your VFW advocates have been working hard all week, asking the 112th Congress to “Finish Strong For Veterans.” In addition to the Democratic roundtable, VFW participated in a Republican veterans affairs roundtable on Tuesday, and members of the VFW National Legislative Committee hit the halls of Congress all week, pushing for solutions to issue related to the VA budget, employment and education, health care, and benefits delivery.

As Congress wraps up business leading into the election, check back regularly for updates.

VFW Joins House VA Committee Republican Roundtable

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., hosted a roundtable discussion this morning with Republican committee leadership and leading veterans’ advocates in the committee’s chambers of the Cannon House Office Building. VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci was on hand to discuss a series of persistent veterans’ issues like mental health care, employment, and looming budget concerns.

Miller decided to host the roundtable as a way to evaluate progress over the 112th Congress, identify shortfalls in meeting the needs of veterans, and candidly discussing potential new ideas to ensure veterans receive the care and benefits to which they are entitled.

The morning’s discussion took place just as the VFW National Legislative Committee converged on Washington, asking Congress to “Finish Strong For Veterans,” by enacting meaningful legislation, providing oversight, and applying pressure on federal agencies to better serve the veterans’ community. This week, VFW advocates will visit every Congressional office discuss VFW’s outstanding issues for the 112th Congress relating to benefits delivery, health care, budget concerns, and education and employment. To learn more about these issues, click here.

Gallucci reiterated the VFW’s “Finish Strong For Veterans” message, encouraging Congress to pass bills like the H.R. 4057 to improve consumer information for student-veterans; provide oversight to ensure the military’s new transition assistance program, or TAP, provides relevant resources to transitioning service members; ensure VA can meet its mental health staffing requirements; and apply pressure to VA and the Administration to define “administrative accounts” potentially affected by mandatory sequestration budget cuts.

Chairman Miller also took the opportunity to candidly discuss a controversial proposal from Republican leaders designed to help veterans receive timely mental health care from TRICARE providers, paid for by VA. The idea comes on the heels of ongoing military and veteran suicide concerns, and reports that VA cannot meet the demand to deliver mental health care in a timely manner.

Veterans’ advocates expressed concern about how the proposal could not only increase care costs for VA, but could create more bureaucratic problems for veterans seeking care outside the VA system.

Gallucci explained that many times veterans cannot receive timely mental health care from VA because they never actively enrolled in the VA health care system before reaching out for help. If veterans sought out emergency care from TRICARE providers on the economy, Gallucci explained that they could be left with a hefty bill for services, and face additional bureaucratic hurdles when they seek reimbursement from VA.

Chairman Miller explained that the concept was designed to ensure veterans who need mental health care can find somewhere to go as a stop-gap measure, and ensured the veterans’ community that his committee would flesh out exactly how such a system could efficiently deliver care.

Other discussion topics this morning included alternative treatments for traumatic brain injury like hypobaric oxygen therapy, persistent processing delays for Post-9/11 G.I. Bill recipients, the effectiveness of peer-to-peer counseling for mental health issues, and empowering employers to find potential veteran employees.

(Image: VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci discusses VFW's call for Congress to "Finish Strong For Veterans" in the 112th Congress. Photo courtesy of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.)

Senate Passes USERRA Protections for TSA Employees; Bill Awaits President's Signature

This week the Senate hotlined the final version of H.R. 3670, a bill which will force the Transportation Security Administration, to comply with the Uniformed Servicemembers Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA. The VFW played a lead role in mustering support for the common sense legislation in both the House and Senate, and applauded its final passage.

“Once we learned that a loophole exempted TSA from complying with service members’ employment rights, our advocates worked hard to fix it to protect the employment rights of Guard and Reservists who work for the agency " said VFW Executive Director Bob Wallace. “The bill passed by the Senate today not only offers piece-of-mind to the service members working for TSA, but it also ensures that TSA will be an attractive employer to potential workers with the unique skills they need to fulfill their mission. We applaud Senator Joe Lieberman, Congressman Tim Walz, and the more than 60 bipartisan cosponsors in both the House and Senate for standing up for the rights of our citizen-soldiers, and we urge the president to quickly sign this responsible piece of legislation into law.”

In the aftermath of 9/11, Congress established TSA in an effort to strengthen security protocols for air travelers. In order to quickly stand up the new agency and its thousands of requisite employees, Congress gave TSA administrators broad authority to hire, fire and promote officers to meet the demand. As a result of this broad authority, transportation security officers, or TSOs, were included in a select category of federal employees considered vital to national security, and therefore exempt from labor laws like USERRA.

More than 10 years after the establishment of TSA, the agency remained exempt from complying with USERRA, and the VFW sought to finally close this loophole, offering reasonable protections to members of the National Guard and Reserve who may seek employment with TSA.

Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., introduced H.R. 3670 in the House, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., introduced the companion bill, S. 1990, in the Senate.

The VFW testified in support of H.R. 3670 before the House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity in March, and VFW legislative associate Daniel Elkins, who currently serves in the National Guard, spearheaded efforts to find cosponsors for the bill, ultimately pushing the legislation across the goal line.

The bill now awaits the president's signature. Your VFW will continue to keep tabs on H.R. 3670 as it moves closer to becoming law. Check back regularly for updates.

House Passes Two Veterans' Bills

*Update: This week the Senate also passed H.R. 4155, meaning the "Veterans Skills to Jobs Act" now awaits the signature of the President. Stay tuned for details. 

Congress returned from the Fourth of July recess yesterday, and wasted no time in taking action on two pieces of pending veterans' legislation. Last night the House of Representatives passed two VFW-supported veterans’ bills, increasing cost-of-living allowances, or COLA, for veterans in 2013 and directing federal agencies to recognize military training for federal licenses.

The federal licensing bill, H.R. 4155, entitled the “Veterans Skills to Jobs Act,” was introduced by Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., and spells out how federal agencies must recognize military training and military certifications when evaluating veterans for federal licenses. The VFW sent a letter of support to Denham back in March, urging for the quick passage of the Veterans Skills to Jobs Act.

Currently, the federal government can issue licenses across various sectors, like aerospace operations and maintenance. Denham, who served as an Air Force crew chief, said he personally encountered the challenges to federal licensure when he was forced to attend an additional three years of school to receive a federal license for a field in which the military had already trained him.

In an official statement yesterday, Denham went on to say that his bill would finally close this loophole, ensuring that veterans with highly technical military training could easily secure federal licenses to continue their careers with the federal government.

A Senate companion bill, introduced by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is also scheduled to be voted on this week.

The COLA bill, H.R. 4114, entitled the “Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2012,” was introduced by Rep. John Runyan, R-N.N., and ensures that VA compensation for disabled veterans and surviving spouses increases at the same rate as Social Security for 2013; a current projected increase of 1.9 percent.

In March, VFW Legislative Director Ray Kelley generally supported the Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act in testimony before the House VA Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, but clarified that the VFW disagreed with the provision to round down any increases to the nearest dollar amount.

In his remarks, Kelley called it “a money-saving gimmick that comes at the expense of our veterans.”

Kelley went to say that the committee should also advance another piece of Runyan legislation, the “American Heroes COLA Act,” or H.R. 4142, which would permanently tie annual COLA increases to Social Security increases. Currently, the House must vote each year to link veterans’ COLA to Social Security growth. In his remarks, Kelley called the process “an added step that confuses and leaves veterans feeling uneasy until the COLA bill is passed.”

Both the Veterans Skills Jobs Act and the Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act will now move on to the Senate. Your VFW will continue to track both pieces of legislation. Check back regularly with this blog for updates.

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: 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.)

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.)

VA Introduces VOW to Hire Heroes Act Web Site

The VA today launched a new Web site, highlighting the latest programs implemented through last year's VOW to Hire Heroes Act, the comprehensive veterans' employment bill that VFW helped sign into law.

The new site, benefits.va.gov/VOW,  focuses on four specific improvements to VA programs designed to help veterans find quality careers or hone the skills necessary to compete in a cut-throat civilian job market. Each section describes new programs in detail, offering specific eligibility information and policy changes that will allow veterans to more easily access available employment and job training resources.

Two of the most significant programs are the extension of additional G.I. Bill-style education benefits for unemployed veterans between the ages of 35-60 through the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, or VRAP, and the extension of additional Vocational Rehabilitation benefits for unemployed disabled veterans.

Unemployed veterans who qualify for VRAP will be offered an additional 12 months of education benefits to help develop new job skills. Program enrollment is limited to 45,000 veterans during fiscal year 2012, and to 54,000 participants from October 1, 2012, through March 31, 2014.

Department of Labor and VA will begin to accept applications for VRAP starting on May 12, 2012. Your VFW will keep you posted with details on how to apply.

Unemployed disabled veterans who have already completed Vocational Rehabilitation will also be eligible for an additional year of Voc Rehab benefits starting June 1, 2012, and VA is already accepting applications to participate in the new program.

The VFW has made veterans' employment a top priority for the last few years and scored a major victory for veterans with last year's passage of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. With this in mind, we encourage all eligible veterans to learn about the new programs included in the law and take full advantage of the benefits and programs you have earned.

VFW Joins Labor to Observe Redesigned TAP Program

Last week the VFW had the opportunity to sit in on the Department of Labor's latest iteration of the redesigned transition assistance program, or TAP. DOL Veterans Employment and Training Service, or VETS, is in the process of reworking the curriculum for its two-and-a-half day employment workshop in an effort to ensure that transitioning service members have all the resources necessary to pursue a meaningful civilian career after military service.

"Observing the latest iteration of the TAP redesign process was a critical step in offering insight into how the program is delivered," said VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci, who sat in on last week's TAP workshop at Fort Belvoir, Va. "VFW members expect us to have our fingers on the pulse of the veterans' community, offering this kind of insight to veterans' policy decision-makers, which is why the VFW is happy that VETS chose to include stakeholders within the veterans' community to not only observe the program, but to offer our unique perspective on how we believe the program should proceed."

The VFW will now offer its feedback on the program, as VETS continues to polish its latest product, slated for a complete roll-out this fall.

The VFW has long worked with VETS to ensure service members and veterans have access to the viable civilian careers through a wide array of services offered by VETS like TAP, or career one-stops in each state where Disabled Veterans Outreach Program specialists, or DVOPS, and local veterans employment representatives, or LVERS, serve as direct conduits for veterans in the community to connect with employers in their area.

Over the last few years, modernizing and mandating TAP participation have been top legislative priorities for the VFW. Last year, the VFW succeeded in mandating TAP for transitioning service members through the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, ensuring those who leave the military have a baseline of information with which they can make a successful transition. Now, the VFW is focusing on extending access to TAP resources for veterans who have since separated from the military, pushing for the TAP Modernization Act of 2012, a piece of legislation that would create a pilot program for states to offer TAP resources in places where veteran unemployment is highest.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Fla., introduced the bill, H.R. 4051, and the VFW offered its support during a recent hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. To read the bill, click here. To read VFW's testimony, click here.

Veterans' employment opportunities remain a top priority for the VFW in light of daunting veterans' unemployment numbers over the last few years. Though recent numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate the situation is improving, the VFW will remain vigilant to ensure that veterans receive the kinds of career opportunities they have earned. Check back regularly with this blog for updates.

Field Report: VFW Helps Colorado Veterans’ Forum Develop Solutions

Last year Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., put together a state veterans’ forum, comprised of veterans’ advocates and leaders across Colorado in an effort to better serve the state’s veterans. In January, a forum subcommittee, chaired by VFW Post 1 Commander Izzy Abbass came together to address a series of veterans’ issues under the title “Better Serving Those Who Have Served.”

Abbass’ subcommittee included advocates from across Colorado who interacted with the veterans’ community in a variety of ways such as workforce investment, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, military family policy, academia, and veterans’ services on both the state and national level. Major veterans’ service organizations like the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Officers Association of America, and Paralyzed Veterans of America also participated in the discussion.

The forum produced a report on six specific areas, outlining ways to improve support services for service members, veterans and their families in Colorado.

“We are unified in our belief that we must do a better job addressing [these] challenges if Colorado is going to become the best place for veterans to live and work,” said Abbass. “ This report is an initial step in continuing to build consensus and strategize how to implement reforms to better meet the needs of military families and veterans.”

The six areas and the panel’s recommendations are:

• Improving community collaboration: Thousands of public and private programs exist to serve veterans, but despite the quantity of programs focused on veterans, critical gaps in services remain. Those working for veterans do not communicate with one other and it is often difficult for veterans to pinpoint which of the multitude of service providers is most relevant to their needs and accessible to them geographically. This country needs a central place where public and private organizations committed to serving veterans can go to learn about each other and work together, and where veterans can go to connect to the services they need.

• Putting our warriors back to work: Although veterans are some of the most highly-skilled workers in the country, they often face unique challenges that can make finding employment after military service difficult. Some of the challenges faced by transitioning service members include translating their unique skills into civilian occupations and overcoming employers’ misunderstanding of the injuries associated with combat. We should work together to find a way to make the transition from warfighter to civilian employee easier.

• Providing easy and efficient access to earned benefits: Bureaucratic overload, inefficiency and inaccuracy continues to cause the backlog of claims at the Veterans Benefits Administration. These delays are an unnecessary burden on veterans who are entitled to the benefits earned through their service. In addition, improvements can be made to the G.I. Bill education benefit to make sure returning veterans get the most out of their education.

• Ending homelessness and addressing foreclosure: Veterans are more likely to become homeless than their non-veteran counterparts, and service members continue to face foreclosure and other financial challenges due, in part, to their mobility. We have a responsibility to make sure veterans are not placed at a disadvantage because of their service to our country.

• Improving awareness and addressing the mental scars from combat: The long-term mental health and cognitive implications of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury are not fully known. Some medical experts believe that the injuries could be contributing factors in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. We need to start planning now for the potential wave of cognitive and mental health issues that may develop in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the decades to come.

• Raising national awareness about the unique challenges faced by military families and veterans: Our goal should not just be to simply reintegrate the service member into civilian society, but should also be to educate communities about the challenges facing those who have served.

From this report, Abbass’ subcommittee will now focus its efforts on three specific areas: Licensing and education, local VA support, and employment.

Abbass said each subcommittee in the state veterans’ forum is now working toward developing action items for the next full committee meeting, which takes places on March 30 in Denver.

To submit your Field Reports 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. Information for this story was provided by Colorado VFW Post 1 Commander Izzy Abbass. 

WATCH: VFW Testifies on Veterans' Jobs, Education and Cemetery Issues

Just a day after the 2012 VFW Legislative Conference came to a close, the VFW Washington office was still at it. VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci testified before the House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity this morning. Gallucci discussed bills on veterans' jobs and education, several of which VFW played a major role in drafting, like H.R. 4057, which will improve consumer education for potential student-veterans and H.R. 3670, which will close a loophole in Transportation Security Administration policy that exempts the agency from USERRA.

Military Times discussed VFW's testimony in a story late yesterday afternoon, which you can read here.

Yesterday afternoon, Legislative Director Ray Kelley also testified before the House VA Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. The hearing followed up on a recent National Cemetery Administration, or NCA, audit that discovered mismarked graves in VA cemeteries. Kelley asked the committee to review VA performance measures for NCA and to close gaps in funding so that veterans and their families have burial options and cemeteries remain protected and pristine.

Click here to watch a webcast of Gallucci's hearing.

Read Gallucci's testimony here, and learn more about the hearing here.

Click here to watch a webcast of Kelley's hearing.

Read Kelley's testimony here, and learn more about the hearing here.

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.)

VFW Joins VA to Help Veterans Find Jobs

The VFW this week participated in a veterans’ career fair hosted by the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Thousands of veterans of all eras, services and ranks converged on the convention center to apply and interview for more than 6,500 jobs across private industry and government. Many of the veterans were conducting their first job search after separating or retiring from the military.

The career fair provided an opportunity for employers to explain their industry and to collect resumes and conduct on site interviews. The VA helped veterans polish their resumes and interviewing skills, and veterans' organizations like the VFW were on-hand to help inform veterans about their VA benefits, and to help them navigate the complicated VA claims process.

At the VFW's booth were VFW service officers Chance Sizemore and John Steiner, and VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci. They spoke to hundreds of veterans about their earned VA benefits and about the mission of the VFW to protect these government programs and services. Steiner called it one of the most dynamic and constructive career fairs he had ever witnessed.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and other key leaders from the VA and the Departments of Labor and Defense participated in the career fair, which was held as part of First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden’s “Joining Forces” campaign to provide services and raise awareness on issues of importance to America's military families.

With the end of the conflict in Iraq and announced 2014 drawdown of forces in Afghanistan, the VFW has made veterans’ employment a top priority, especially with recent proposals for a leaner active duty military.

Last year the VFW scored a major legislative victory with the passage of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, which creates an environment more conducive to hiring veterans. VFW leaders in Washington will continue to monitor the veterans’ employment situation closely, and continue to make sound recommendations to Congress on how to improve transitional and employment services to America’s veterans.

(Images: Top: Thousands of veterans converged on the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., for a career fair hosted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Bottom: VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci speaks with a Marine Corps veteran during the career fair. Photos courtesy of the Department of Veterans Affairs.)