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.)

Field Report: North Dakota VFW Calls on Congress to Stop Benefit Cuts

During the Easter congressional recess, leaders from the VFW Department of North Dakota participated in a roundtable discussion on veterans’ issues with Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D., and staff members for Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and John Hoeven, R-N.D.

John Hanson, a past VFW state commander and current member of the VFW National Legislative Committee, discussed VFW’s “10 for 10” list of military benefits and quality-of-life programs that the Administration and Congress have put on the chopping block, explaining why the budget cuts cannot happen. He called on the North Dakota congressional delegation to offer a united voice in support of veterans and the military community when they return to Washington.

During the roundtable, participants also discussed rural health for veterans, funding for post-traumatic stress, support for the children and families of deployed service members, the deep VA disability claims backlog, veterans’ homelessness, and funding for veterans’ outreach.

Congressman Berg said that the U.S. House of Representatives this year has passed 13 pieces of legislation, four of which have been signed into law. Berg also said that North Dakota is home to thousands of veterans who he is proud to represent. He explained that the VA needs to be able to meet the medical and mental healthcare needs of all returning service members, and that they cannot waiver in their support to properly care for veterans.

Hanson said he and the North Dakota VFW will continue to work with their congressman and senators to meet the needs of service members, veterans and their families.

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 VFW National Legislative Committee member John Hanson.

Share Your Stories of Advocacy from Memorial Day and the Congressional Recess

This weekend, legislators are once again home in their districts to observe the Memorial Day holiday alongside the men and women they represent. Many legislators will join VFW members and advocates who will gather to honor the brave American men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation, hoping to hear our concerns on the issues facing service members, veterans, and military families. If you seize the opportunity to advocate this week on behalf of our nation's veterans and want to share your story, we want to help spread the word on the VFW Capitol Hill blog.

For more than a century, VFW has helped to get passed into law virtually every significant quality-of-life legislation for service members, veterans and their families. VFW has also helped to defeat bad legislation that would reduce or eliminate those hard earned programs, which is why our sustained voice in Washington is only as strong as the voice of VFW members and all of our veterans’ advocates around the country.

Without your help and your grassroots action in communities from coast to coast, accomplishments like the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Agent Orange presumptions, veterans’ hiring preference, survivor benefits, advance health care appropriations and Family Caregiver benefits would not have been possible.

If you don't know where to begin, the VFW offers a variety of tools to help you reach out to your elected officials and discuss many of the most pressing national issues facing our service members, veterans, and their loved ones.

To army yourself with the latest VFW Legislative Priority Goals, click here.

To learn about key bills VFW is working to pass in Congress, click here.

To find contact information for your congressmen and senators, click here.

The VFW Capitol Hill blog brings together the efforts of the VFW Action Corps and the VFW National Legislative Service to provide updates in real time on veterans and military issues as they develop in Washington and around the nation. We hope that you will send us your stories and help us inspire members to reach out to their representatives and take action!

To send us your news, use the Blog Submission Form posted here, or simply email photos and stories directly to vfwac@vfw.org.

VFW Commander To Join in National Memorial Day Observances

This afternoon VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard L. DeNoyer will touch down in Washington, D.C., for Memorial Day weekend events.

Every year, VFW leaders converge on the Nation's Capitol for a series of events across the region to honor the brave American men and women who gave their lives on the battlefield to defend our great nation. This year, DeNoyer, VFW National Chief of Staff Walter Gansenberg, and VFW Washington staff are scheduled to participate in nearly a dozen events around Washington to honor America's fallen heroes.

The VFW national commander's weekend starts tonight, when he joins fellow Marines at the Eighth and I Marine Corps Barracks for the evening parade.

On Saturday, VFW National Veterans Service staff begin manning a tent near the Vietnam War Memorial so that visiting veterans can learn about their earned VA benefits and speak with trained VFW service officers on how to navigate the complex VA claims process. VFW staff will man the tent on Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

On Sunday night, DeNoyer and other key VFW leaders will join members of Congress and their professional staff at the U.S. Capitol for the National Memorial Day Concert.

On Monday morning, DeNoyer will begin observing Memorial Day by joining the president and the first lady at the White House for a breakfast to honor America's Gold Star Families.

Afterwards, DeNoyer and other VFW officials will gather at Arlington National Cemetery for the 114th National Memorial Day Observance, immediately followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The VFW national commander will close out Memorial Day alongside his fellow Vietnam veterans at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for the 30th Annual Memorial Day Wall Ceremony, which this year includes the National Commemoration of the Vietnam War's 50th Anniversary.

In addition to the national Memorial Day events hosted in Washington, VFW members and advocates will gather from coast to coast to honor the sacrifices of America's fallen war heroes. Next week we will bring you highlights from DeNoyer's Memorial Day observances, but we also want to share you stories on this blog. To learn how, click here, or simply email photos and stories directly to vfwac@vfw.org.

(Images: Top: VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard L. DeNoyer lays a memorial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery during last fall's Veterans Day observances in Washington, D.C. Bottom: DeNoyer, center, visits with VFW National Veterans Service staff manning an informational booth near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial over Veterans Day weekend last fall. Photos by Joe Davis.)