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GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

 

The Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America Government Affairs Committee is committed to providing timely information on issues that are specific to the needs of veterans and their families. Citizens may show support by contacting their elected officials in person or via phone or e-mail, to keep the needs of our veterans and their families in the limelight as relevant acts impacting our membership are considered.

Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America does not pay professional lobbyists, nor do we lobby as an organization, for any legislative action. We do not support any political party or candidate on any level. The Government Affairs Committee merely provides information to the membership, solely for their use as individuals in grass roots actions at all levels of government.


 

Vietnam Veterans of America, August 11,2023

 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aug. 10, 2023

5:00 am

Since President Biden signed The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT Act) into law as a part of his Unity Agenda, VA has delivered more than $1.85 billion in earned PACT Act benefits to Veterans and survivors

WASHINGTON — Today, VA released a PACT Act Year-In-Review Dashboard showcasing the care and benefits that VA has delivered to Veterans and their survivors since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law on Aug. 10, 2022. Partly due to this historic law, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. Key results to date include:

Delivering benefits to Veterans and their survivors: VA has delivered more than $1.85 billion in earned PACT Act benefits to Veterans and their survivors. VA is delivering these benefits to Veterans at the fastest rate in our nation’s history, processing 1.65 million total Veteran claims thus far in this fiscal year (including 458,659 PACT Act claims) — 16% more year-to-date than the previous all-time record.

Increasing Veteran access to health care: Since August 10, 332,252 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care — which is nearly 50,000 more enrollees than during the previous year. This includes more than 113,719 enrollees from the PACT Act population (Vietnam, Gulf War, and Post-9/11 Veterans).  

Screening Veterans for toxic exposures: More than 4.1 million Veterans have received free, 10-minute screenings for toxic exposures from VA under the PACT Act — a critical step to catching and treating potentially life-threatening health conditions as early as possible.

Spreading the word to Veterans and their survivors: Thanks to the largest outreach campaign in VA history, Veterans and survivors are applying for their earned benefits at record rates. In this fiscal year, Veterans and survivors have submitted 1.95 million total claims (including 843,448 PACT Act-specific claims) — 37% more than last year and on pace to break an all-time record. Veterans have also submitted 1.65 million “intents to file” during this fiscal year — 44% more than last year and also on pace to break an all-time record.

The PACT Act is here to stay, and Veterans and survivors can apply anytime for the care and benefits they’ve earned. Veterans and survivors who apply (or submit their intent to file) for PACT Act benefits by 11:59 p.m., ET, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023 will be eligible to have their benefits backdated to Aug. 10, 2022 — the day that President Biden signed the PACT Act into law. This is an extension from the original deadline of Aug. 9, 2023. VA encourages all Veterans and survivors to visit VA.gov/PACT to apply — or submit their intent to file — today.

“Thanks to President Biden, millions of Veterans who fought for our country are now getting health care and compensation for the conditions that followed them home from war,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We’re proud that so many Veterans and survivors have already benefited from the PACT Act, but this is just the beginning: we won’t rest until every Veteran and every survivor gets the VA health care and benefits they deserve.”

For more information about how one year of the PACT Act has helped Veterans, visit VA’s PACT Year-in-Review Dashboard. This dashboard is a special highlight edition of VA’s regular PACT Act dashboard, which VA publishes every other Friday to document the implementation of this legislation and showcase its impact on Veterans and survivors. The Year-in-Review Dashboard includes national and state-level data on PACT Act benefits and health care.

Source:  One year of the PACT Act: A historic expansion of benefits and health care for Veterans and their survivors - VA News

 


 

Halls of Congress

House Committee on Veterans Affairs
House Appropriations Committee
  Halls of Congress  
  August Recess  
 

Thursday, July 27, is the last  legislative day for both chambers as they head into August Recess.

 

Top

  House Committee on Veterans Affairs  
  House Veterans Affairs Committee passes 11 bills  
 

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.), released the following statement after the Committee reported 11 bills to be considered on the House Floor:

“To close out the summer session, our Committee reported eleven bills to effectively address veteran homelessness, continue our commitment to improving TAP, expand access to home-based care for aging veterans, increase access to mental health resources for caregivers, protect deployed servicemembers' USERRA rights, and more. Each of these bills would have a direct impact on veterans, Reservists and National Guardsmen, veteran caregivers, and their families,” said Chairman Bost. “I am especially proud to see my Restore VA Accountability Act reported by our Committee today. My bill is in response to the brave whistleblowers who have been coming to our Committee since the start of the new Republican majority. Under my leadership, we won’t turn a blind eye to them sounding the alarm on bad employees hurting the delivery of care and services to veterans at VA. Instead, we’ll fix it and provide the Secretary with the tools they need to appropriately hold employees accountable. I look forward to considering it, along with these other good proposals on the House Floor, as soon as possible.”

The following bills were passed out of the Committee today:

H.R. 4278, Restore Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability Act (Chairman Bost)
H.R. 3848, HOME Act (Rep. Chavez-DeRemer)
H.R. 3943, Servicemember Employment Protection Act of 2023 (Rep. Franklin)
H.R. 3874, Veterans Education Assistance Improvement Act (Rep. Rosendale)
H.R. 3933, TAP Promotion Act (Rep. Van Orden)
H.R. 4461, Modernizing Department of Veteran Affairs Disability Benefit Questionnaires Act (Rep. Luttrell)
H.R. 3581, COPE Act (Rep. Kiggans)
H.R. 1767, To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide that educational assistance paid under Department of Veterans Affairs educational assistance programs to an individual who pursued a program or course of education that was suspended or terminated for certain reasons shall not be charged against the entitlement of the individual, and for other purposes (Rep. Ramirez)
H.R. 3981, Veterans Education Oversight Expansion Act (Rep. McGarvey)
H.R. 542, Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act of 2023 (Rep. Brownley)
H.R. 984, Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach Act (Rep. Levin)
Source:https://veterans.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=6242

 

Top

  House Appropriations Committee  
  VA FY24 Budget pass House before August recess  
 

WASHINGTON – Today, the House of Representatives met to consider H.R. 4366, the Fiscal Year 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The measure was approved by a vote of 219 to 211.

The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill includes a total of 
$317.441 billion in funding for the Department of Defense (Military Construction and 
Family Housing), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and related agencies. Of the 
Total, $155.701 billion is provided as discretionary funding, and $161.740 billion is
provided for mandatory programs. Of the discretionary total, $17.474 billion is for
Department of Defense military construction projects, nearly $800 million above the 
President’s Budget Request. The bill also fully funds the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
for Fiscal Year 2024 by appropriating $137.755 billion in discretionary funding in 
addition to the $20.268 billion included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 for the 
Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund. It also includes a total of $471.7 million for the four 
related agencies.

Honors our commitment to veterans by: 
o Fully funding veterans’ health care programs; and
o Fully funding veterans’ benefits and VA programs, including electronic health 
record modernization initiative.
 Supports a strong national security by: 
o Providing nearly $800 million above the President’s Budget Request for military 
construction, focusing investments in the Pacific theater, barracks, and other qualityof-life projects; and 
o Maintaining two provisions prohibiting the closure or realignment of Naval Station 
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Focuses the Executive Branch on its core responsibilities by: 
o Including new provisions prohibiting funds to lobby Congress, promote or advance 
critical race theory, and carry out divisive Executive Orders.

BILL HIGHLIGHTS
Cuts to Wasteful Spending
• Prohibits the use of funds to promote or advance critical race theory. 
• Prohibits the implementation, administration, or enforcement of the Biden Administration’s 
executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion. 
• Eliminates funding for the VA’s Office of Public Affairs in response to the VA’s inaccurate 
and politically motivated press releases making false claims about budget cuts. 
Conservative Priorities
• Keeps America’s promise to its veterans by fully funding the needs identified in the 
President’s Budget Request for the VA.
• Adds a specific provision to the bill that reiterates existing law prohibiting the use of funds by the Departments and agencies funded in the bill to lobby Congress or to advocate for or against pending legislation. 
• Retains prohibition on the closure of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the use of military construction funds to build facilities for detainees on U.S. soil.

DETAILED FUNDING SUMMARY
Department of Defense (Military Construction and Family Housing)
Provides $17.474 billion for Department of Defense military construction and family housing, 
$799.1 million above the FY24 Budget Request.
• $1.425 billion for infrastructure related to the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and $131 million for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
• $480.8 million for U.S. Special Operations Command:
o $436.4 million for 10 projects;
o $25.1 million for planning and design; and
o $19.3 million for minor construction.
• $362.3 million for 9 barracks projects and an additional $195 million for planning and 
design.
• $293.8 million for 7 child development center projects and an additional $75 million for 
planning and design.
• $80 million above the Budget Request across the active and reserve components to address important small-scale infrastructure deficiencies.

Department of Veterans Affairs
Provides $299.496 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, which when combined with  amounts provided in the Fiscal Responsibility Act is equal to the FY24 Budget Request and 
$16.481 billion above the FY23 enacted level.
• Provides for a full year funding level of $138.127 billion for veterans’ medical care, 
matching the FY24 Budget Request.
• Fully funds veterans’ health care and toxic exposure-related needs for FY24. 
Arlington National Cemetery 
• Includes $88.6 million to complete the southern expansion of the Arlington National 
Cemetery. 
Community Project Funding
• Includes $294.6 million in Community Project Funding for 24 projects requested by 14 
Members.

 

 


 

11 VSOs Agree—It’s time to pass Chairman Takano’s Honoring our PACT Act

Comprehensive legislation to honor pact to address toxic exposures heads to House floor

CLICK HERE TO READ

 


 

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee

BREAKING: Tester, Moran Bill to Expand VA Health Care for Post-9/11 Veterans Unanimously Clears Senate Committee leaders’ bipartisan Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act one step closer to becoming law.
Wednesday, February 16, 2022     USE THIS LINK TO READ

 


 

VVA UPDATE

HOUSE AND SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE HEARINGS FEB 2-8, 2022

 


 

 CAREGIVER ACT INFORMATION!

There have been many people who have been denied on claims regarding the new caregiver act, for benefits.  Anyone who has been denied a claim can appeal.  A recent court action said:

CAVC Baudette Decision

https://efiling.uscourts.cavc.gov/cmecf/servlet/TransportRoom?servlet=ShowDoc/01207717811&uid=2500d88642b44cb9

 If you think you qualify to get benefits regarding your role as a caregiver to a Veteran who is at least 79% service connected, or who meets requirements, go to this link to apply: 

VA Form10-10CG

PLEASE READ THE TWO SENATE AND HOUSE BILL INFO SHEETS AND CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSPERSONS!

SENATE BILL S1520

SENTATE BILL S810 AND HOUSE BILL HR1972

 


 

CONGRESS 101

Click here for an easy to follow listing of information that will make contacting congress as easy as 1 2 3!

 


 

 

FIND YOUR CONGRESS MEMBER: (**You can still find the names, but the info is no longer available. You can google your senator or representative once you find the names.  We are looking for alternative software)