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October 11, 2013 |
The VFW Calls on Elected Leaders
to End Budget Impasse
If a federal budget isn’t
approved soon, more than 4 million disabled veterans, survivors and
student-veterans will not be receiving VA checks at the end of the month. The
failure of Congress to compromise on a budget also forced the VA to close its 56
regional offices this week, and furlough more than 7,000 employees, the majority
of whom were responsible for processing VA claims. In an opinion editorial, VFW
National Commander Bill Thien said he was disgusted with the partisan bickering
and government paralysis caused by a White House and Congress that will not
budge from their ideological extremes in order to properly take care of
America’s true heroes. “We need leadership, not more rhetoric, and if the
government is unable to take care of veterans, then the government should quit
creating us,” he said. Read the Chief’s
OpEd.
VFW Service Officers Continue
Working ClaimsWhile ROs across the country
have closed their doors to veterans, VFW Service Officers around the country are
still hard at work processing veterans' claims. Some service officers have set
up temporary offices at posts. If you need help with a claim, contact your
service officer and/or check with your posts. Our service officers can still
turn claims into VA. Find or contact a
VFW Service Officer.
President Signs Military Death
Benefit BillAfter a firestorm of heated language from
the VFW, veterans and military organizations as well as the public, the
President signed legislation to reinstate military death and funeral benefits,
just hours after the Senate cleared the measure. Funds provided by the bill, HJ
Res 91, will be available until December 15 or until an appropriations law is
enacted, whichever comes first. The legislation passed the House 425-0 on
Wednesday, and is the first targeted stopgap measure to be sent to the
president’s desk since the government shutdown began. For details on the bill,
click here.
VA
Secretary Discusses Shutdown with CommitteeOn Wednesday, VA
Secretary Eric Shinseki testified before the House VA Committee on the effects
of the current government shutdown on benefits and services for veterans. The
VFW provided written testimony for the hearing stating our deep concern that
services to veterans are being harmed every day that the shutdown continues.
Shinseki tried to clarify how many employees are furloughed, or will be
furloughed, when their current funding runs out before the end of the month. He
also stressed that critical payments to veterans and survivors will be impacted
as well as the processing of disability claims for compensation, pension,
education, vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits. Once mandatory
funds are depleted at the end of this month, nearly 5,600 veterans a day will
not receive a decision on their disability claims and VA regional offices will
be closed. The VFW urged Congress to pass a full-year Fiscal Year 2014
appropriations bill without delay, and to clear legislation (H.R. 813 and S.
932) that will ensure veteran programs and services are not disrupted in the
future.
To call on Congress to end the shutdown today, click here for
our alert. Or for phone numbers to DC and District offices for elected
officials, click here.
To read our testimony or watch the recorded webcast of the hearing, visit the
house VA
website. For an updated guide to VA’s contingency plan during the shutdown,
go here.
The VFW, SVA Fill GI Bill Void
During Government Shutdown
As
a result of the ongoing shutdown, the Department of Veterans Affairs GI Bill
hotline, 1-888-GIBILL-1, remains offline, meaning veterans have very few places
to turn for reliable information on accessing their earned GI Bill benefits. To
counter the lack of customer service, the VFW and Student Veterans of America
(SVA) are once again informing veterans that the “1 Student Veteran” program is
fully open for business. Those with questions regarding GI Bill or other
benefits should email 1studentveteran@vfw.org, for timely
assistance. Veterans who send a message will receive a reply
within 24 hours or the next business day from a VFW staff member who specializes
in student-veteran issues.
House
VA Committee Examines Pain Management for Vets On Thursday, the
House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health held a hearing to examine the
rising use of opiate painkillers to treat veterans. The committee expressed
concern over the skyrocketing rate of prescriptions for these highly addictive
medications, and the sense that there is a need for greater care coordination in
pain management across VA. Emotional testimony was heard from the widows of two
current-era veterans who recently died from overdoses of VA prescribed opiates,
as well as two recently medically retired servicemen who continue to struggle
with issues surrounding pain and addiction. VA representatives acknowledged the
potential harm caused by opiate painkillers and stated that they are developing
new alternative pain management programs which will soon be instituted across
the department. The new approach, known as the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation
Program (CPRP) and based out of the Tampa VA Hospital, focuses on exercise,
occupational therapy, pool therapy, relaxation training, acupuncture and
massage, with the goal of eliminating dependency on opiate painkillers. Although
the CPRP currently accepts referrals from all 50 states, it is the goal of the
VA to establish a similar program in every VISN. Subcommittee Chairman Dan
Benishek closed by noting that further hearings on this issue will be held in
the future to monitor progress. The VFW will continue to keep you updated. For
details on the hearing, click
here.
Three
WWII MIAs Recovered The Defense POW/MIA Office has announced the
identification of remains belonging to two Marines and an Army Air Force pilot
who had been missing since World War II. Recovered are:
- Marine Corps Capt. Henry S. White, 23, of
Kansas City, Mo., and Staff Sgt. Thomas L. Meek, 19, of Lisbon, La. On July 21,
1943, White and Meek were crewmembers aboard an SBD-4 Dauntless dive-bomber that
departed Turtle Bay Airfield on Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides, on a night
training mission and failed to return. The aircraft reportedly crashed into a
coral cliff on nearby Mavea Island. A September 1947 investigation of the crash
site recovered no remains. In 2012, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command team
excavated the site and did recover remains and non-biological evidence that
correlated circumstantially to White and Meek. Since no individual
identification was possible, both will be buried in a single casket on Oct. 18
at Arlington National Cemetery.
- Army Air Force 1st Lt. Robert G.
Fenstermacher, 23, of Scranton, Pa. On Dec. 26, 1944, Fenstermacher was piloting
a P-47D Thunderbolt on an armed-reconnaissance mission when his aircraft crashed
near Petergensfeld, Belgium. An American officer witnessed the crash and was
able to recover Fenstermacher’s identification tags from the burning wreckage,
but no remains or aircraft wreckage were recovered at the time. In 2012, a group
of local historians excavating a private yard recovered human remains and
aircraft wreckage consistent with a P-47D, which were turned over to the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command. He is scheduled to be buried on Oct. 18 in his
hometown.
A military website link to the above recovery stories has been
temporarily shut down due to the government shutdown.
As always, we
want to share your advocacy stories on the VFW Capitol Hill blog. To share your
stories, fill out our online
form or simply email photos and stories directly to vfwac@vfw.org.
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