WASHINGTON (May 12, 2010) – Testifying before a House subcommittee today, The American Legion said that veterans’ preference in the federal job market “is being unlawfully ignored by numerous agencies.

“The reality is that employment opportunities are not being properly publicized,” said Joe Sharpe, the Legion’s economic division director. “Federal agencies, as well as federal government contractors and subcontractors, are required by law to notify the Office of Personnel Management of job opportunities.

“But more often than not, these opportunities are never made available to the public,” he said. Sharpe testified before the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, chaired by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.

Sharpe said that such behavior on the part of some federal agencies make the Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) a critically important program, since it investigates violations of veterans’ preference policy and corrects unlawful practices.

“The mission of VETS is to promote the economic security of America’s veterans,” Sharpe said. “The American Legion is eager to see this program grow, and especially would like to see greater expansion of entrepreneurial-based, self-employment opportunity training.”

The American Legion has recommended about $340 million for fiscal 2011 to fund five Dept. of Labor programs created to serve veterans:
• Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS): Offers employment and training services to eligible veterans through non-competitive “Jobs for Veterans” state grant programs.
• Transition/Disabled Transition Assistance Programs (TAP/DTAP): Help servicemembers who are separating from active duty with their return to the civilian world and work force. ($267M, including VETS funding)
• Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP): A competitive state-grant program for agencies and organizations that offer jobs to homeless veterans. ($50M)
• National Veteran’ Employment and Training Services Institute (NVTI): Ensures that staff for federal and state employment services are highly trained and proficient in dealing with veterans’ needs. ($6M)
• Veterans Workforce Investment Program (VWIP): Provides training and support services to veterans to lead to higher wages and long-term careers – especially those with service-connected disabilities, are recently separated from active duty, or have significant barriers to employment. ($20M)

Sharpe also recommended $61 million in funding for the Office of Personnel Management to improve compliance with veterans’ preference rights in the job market. He reminded the subcommittee that employment rights of veterans and servicemembers are covered by the Veterans’ Employment Opportunity Act of 1998 and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

The TAP and DTAP programs need to be expanded quickly, The American Legion says, to include many National Guard and reserve members whose businesses have suffered –or have been lost – while they were serving their country. While DoD estimates that 79 percent of active-duty troops attend TAP seminars, only 35 percent of reserve components do the same.

“These attendance numbers are a disservice to all transitioning servicemembers,” Sharpe said. The American Legion wants DoD to make its TAP and DTAP sessions mandatory for all servicemembers leaving active duty.

Discussing the VWIP program, Sharpe noted that current funding allows it to operate in only 15 states. “The problem is clearly a lack of adequate funding. The budget baseline needs to be increased to … train eligible veterans in all 50 states in FY 2011,” he said.

At the start of the hearing, Rep. Obey – who chairs the House Appropriations Committee – expressed frustration over congressional reluctance to fully fund programs favored by The American Legion and other veterans service organizations.

He said he favored almost all of the programs proposed by the score of testifying witnesses, but noted the combined cost would increase President Obama’s proposed FY 2011 budget by $14 billion. But in light of the massive federal deficit, Obey said, Congress is being asked to trim $3.5 billion from the president’s figure.

“Congress needs to realize that there are deficits that need to be considered other than federal budget deficits,” Obey said, “like deficits in jobs and opportunities and care.”  With that prologue, he opened the morning round of testimony.

But National Commander urges lawmakers to “not forget” veterans of previous eras

WASHINGTON (May 6, 2010) – With an American Legion official standing behind him Wednesday afternoon, President Barack Obama signed into law the long-awaited Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act. As its name implies, the act calls for the government to provide health benefits, training, respite care and, in some cases, monetary stipends for individuals who provide at-home care for severely ill and disabled veterans.

“This is a big step in the right direction,” said The American Legion’s National Commander Clarence E. Hill. “Finally, the sacrifices made by the families and caregivers of our wounded warriors are being recognized and, more importantly, their needs are beginning to be met.”

Many of The American Legion's top legislative priorities have been included in the congressionally popular Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, including improvements for women's services at VA health-care facilities, better support for caregivers of disabled veterans, expanded mental-health services and more funding to help reduce homelessness among veterans.

As it stands, the benefits of the new act apply primarily, though not exclusively, to veterans and caregivers of veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) – the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  According to a House Veterans Affairs Committee press release, the act does require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) “…to provide hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for certain Vietnam-era veterans exposed to herbicide, and Gulf-War era veterans who have insufficient medical evidence to establish a service-connected disability” but contains little else specific to veterans of the pre-9/11 era other than to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to “…submit a one-time report on the feasibility and advisability of expanding the program to cover veterans who have a serious injury incurred or aggravated before September 11, 2001.”

“The American Legion has urged and will continue to press congressional leaders to expand this very important but incomplete legislation to benefit all seriously injured and ill veterans and their caregivers,” Hill said.  “Our nation must not forget them.”

The estimated cost of implementing all current provisions of the act is $1.7 billion over the next five years.  Observers say future funding will be the biggest obstacle to expansion of its benefits.

With a current membership of 2.5-million wartime veterans, The American Legion is the nation’s largest veterans service organization.  It was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.

Decision Simplifies Application for Disability Pay

WASHINGTON (March 18, 2010) – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki today announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is taking steps to make it easier for Veterans to obtain disability compensation for certain diseases associated with service in the Persian Gulf War or Afghanistan.  This will be the beginning of historic change for how VA considers Gulf War Veterans’ illnesses.

Following recommendations made by VA’s Gulf War Veterans Illnesses Task Force, VA is publishing a proposed regulation in the Federal Register that will establish new presumptions of service connection for nine specific infectious diseases associated with military service in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War, or in Afghanistan on or after September 19, 2001.

“We recognize the frustrations that many Gulf War and Afghanistan Veterans and their families experience on a daily basis as they look for answers to health questions, and seek benefits from VA,” said Secretary Shinseki.

The proposed rule includes information about the long-term health effects potentially associated with the nine diseases: Brucellosis, Campylobacter jejuni, Coxiella burnetii (Q fever), malaria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Nontyphoid Salmonella, Shigella, Visceral leishmaniasis and West Nile virus.

For non-presumptive conditions, a Veteran is required to provide medical evidence that can be used to establish an actual connection between military service in Southwest Asia or in Afghanistan, and a specific disease.

With the proposed rule, a Veteran will only have to show service in Southwest Asia or Afghanistan, and a current diagnosis of one of the nine diseases.  Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted over the next 60 days.  A final regulation will be published after consideration of all comments received.

The decision was made after reviewing the 2006 report of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), titled, “Gulf War and Health Volume 5: Infectious Diseases.”  The 2006 report differed from the four prior reports by looking at the long-term health effects of certain diseases determined to be pertinent to Gulf War Veterans.

The 1998 Persian Gulf War Veterans Act requires the Secretary to review NAS reports that study scientific information and possible associations between illnesses and exposure to toxic agents by Veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War.

Because the Persian Gulf War has not officially been declared ended, Veterans serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom are eligible for VA’s new presumptions.  Secretary Shinseki decided to include Afghanistan Veterans in these presumptions because NAS found that the nine diseases are prevalent in that country.

Noting that today’s proposed regulation reflects a significant determination of a positive association between service in the Persian Gulf War and certain diseases, Secretary Shinseki added, “By setting up scientifically-based presumptive service connection, we give these deserving Veterans a simple way to get the benefits they have earned in service to our country.”

Last year, VA received more than one million claims for disability compensation and pension.  VA provides compensation and pension benefits to over 3.8 million Veterans and beneficiaries.  Presently, the basic monthly rate of compensation ranges from $123 to $2,673 to Veterans without any dependents.

Disability compensation is a non-taxable, monthly monetary benefit paid to Veterans who are disabled as a result of an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated during active military service.

For more information about health problems associated with military service during operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and related VA programs go to www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/gulfwar/ or go to www.va.gov for information about disability compensation.

By Tom Philpott: Military Update

Tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans with ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease or B cell leukemia should file claims now with the Department of Veterans Affairs for disability compensation, not wait until VA publishes a regulation officially linking these diseases to wartime service.

Advocacy groups are urging the swift filing of claims because veterans eventually found eligible for disability pay for these diseases will be able to receive compensation back to the date their claims were filed. Those who wait for a regulation to add these ailments to VA’s list of diseases presumed caused by exposure to Agent Orange and other toxins used in the war could lessen, by several months of compensation, any retroactive pay that they will be due once their claims have been approved.

Help in filing claims is available through the Legion and its service officers as well as through most other major veterans’ organizations. A law firm representing the Legion, the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) sent a March 1 letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki demanding that VA publish by March 12 an interim regulation for adding these illnesses to its list of diseases presumed caused by Agent Orange — or face a lawsuit.

Longer delays in rulemaking, the letter said, will “result in irreparable harm to thousands of Vietnam veterans who suffer from these diseases” because VA compensation is not owed to “new claimants for any period prior to publication of a final regulation.”

What the letter didn’t make clear is that veterans can avoid the “irreparable harm” if they don’t wait for the regulation to file their claim.

The Agent Orange Act of 1991 requires VA to publish final regulations to expand its list of presumptive diseases within 210 days of receiving a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) linking more illnesses to use of the herbicide during the war in Southeast Asia. That 210-day deadline was reached Feb. 19 without VA having published even an interim regulation.

A VA official said the Office of Management and Budget is expected to complete its review of VA’s interim regulation by the end of March. It then will be published in the Federal Register for public comment.

Shinseki had delighted veterans’ groups last October by announcing that VA would not challenge a July 24 report by the IOM that found sufficient epidemiologic evidence to suggest a link between wartime herbicide exposure and Parkinson’s disease, B cell leukemia and ischemic heart disease, also known as coronary artery disease.

Veterans who set foot in Vietnam from 1962 to 1975 and suffer today from one of these diseases will be in line for a disability rating and compensation once the regulation is final and claim adjudicators begin using it. By one estimate, as many as 185,000 veterans could be eligible for disability pay for these diseases.

The American Legion is sending out fresh guidance to its service officers to urge veterans who believe they have a claim under any one of the three illnesses to come in for free help in developing their claims.

VA To Re-Examine Gulf War Vets’ Disability Claims

The American Legion welcomes VA decision
 
(AP - February 26, 2010) The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will re-examine the disability claims of what could be thousands of Gulf War veterans suffering from ailments they blame on their war service, the first step toward potentially compensating them nearly twenty years after the war ended.
 
Secretary Eric Shinseki said the decision is part of a "fresh, bold look" VA is taking to help veterans who have what's commonly called "Gulf War illness".  "I'm hoping they'll be enthused by the fact that this ... challenges all the assumptions that have been there for 20 years," Shinseki told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview.  These veterans have long felt the government did little to help them.  The VA says it also plans to improve training for medical staff who work with Gulf War vets, to make sure they do not simply tell vets that their symptoms are imaginary-as has happened to many over the years.
 
The changes reflect a significant shift in how VA may ultimately care for some 700,000 veterans who served in the Gulf War.  It also could change how the department handles war-related illness suffered by future veterans, as Shinseki said he wants standards put in place that don't leave veterans waiting decades for answers to what ails them.  The decision comes four months after Secretary Shinseki opened the door for as many as 200,000 Vietnam veterans to receive service-related disability compensation for three illnesses stemming from exposure to the Agent Orange herbicide.
 
About 175,000 to 210,000 Gulf War veterans have come down with a pattern of symptoms that include rashes, joint and muscle pain, sleep issues and gastrointestinal problems, according to a 2008 congressionally-mandated committee that based the estimate on earlier studies.  But what exactly caused the symptoms has long been unanswered.  Independent scientists have pointed to pesticide and pyridostigmine bromide pills, given to protect troops from nerve agents, as probable culprits.  The 2008 report noted that since 1994, $340 million has been spent on government research into the illness, but little has focused on treatments.
 
Last week, Secretary Shinseki and Senator Jay Rockefeller (WV), a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs committee, met privately in Charleston, West Virginia, with several Gulf War veterans.  In an interview after the meeting, Rockefeller told the AP that Shinseki's background as a former Army chief of staff made the changes possible.  He said either the military has been reluctant over the years to release paperwork related to the war or kept poor records about exposures in the war zone, which made it harder for the veterans to prove they needed help.  "The paperwork isn't very accurate, but the pain is very real," Rockefeller said.
 
Secretary Shinseki has publicly wondered why today there are still so many unanswered questions about Gulf War illness, as stricken veterans' conditions have only worsened with age.  Last fall, he appointed a task force led by his chief of staff, John Gingrich, a retired Army colonel who commanded a field artillery battalion in the 1991 war, to review benefits and care for Gulf War veterans.  The changes stem from the task force's work.  Gingrich said in an interview that he feels a personal stake because some of his own men who were healthy during the war are dealing with these health problems.  Gingrich said the VA isn't giving a new benefit to Gulf War veterans, just making sure the claims they submitted were done correctly.  "We're talking about a culture change, that we don't have a single clinician or benefits person saying 'you really don't have Gulf War illness, this is only imaginary' or 'you're really not sick,'" Gingrich said.
 
A law enacted in 1994 allows the VA to pay compensation to Gulf War veterans with certain chronic disabilities from illnesses the VA could not diagnosis.  More than 3,400 Gulf War have qualified for benefits under this category, according to the VA.  The VA says it plans to review how regulations were written to ensure the veterans received the compensation they were entitled to under the law.  The VA would then give veterans the opportunity to have a rejected claim reconsidered.  The VA doesn't have an estimate of the number of veterans who may be affected, but it could be in the thousands.  Of those who deployed in the Gulf War, 300,000 submitted claims, according to the VA.  About 14 percent were rejected, while the rest received compensation for at least one condition.