NewsBytes July 15, 2022
In this issue:
Veterans Toxic Exposure Bill Amended and Passes House
House Passes NDAA (H.R.7900)
House Passes Veterans Comprehensive Mental Health Bill
Happy Birthday Marine Corps Band
Veterans Toxic Exposure Bill Amended and Passes House
The House approved a slightly modified version of the comprehensive veteran’s toxic exposure bill as an amendment to another bill (S.3373) and approved it (342-88). The bill must go back to the Senate for final approval and then sent on to the president to be signed into law.
It would establish a presumption of service connection for 23 respiratory illnesses and cancers related to the smoke from burn pits. Further, the bill also provides new benefits for veterans who faced radiation exposure during deployments throughout the Cold War, adds hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy to the list of illnesses linked to Agent Orange exposure in the Vietnam War, expands the timeline for Gulf War medical claims and requires new medical exams for all veterans with toxic exposure claims. Veterans who served in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Guam during the Vietnam War era would be covered under the same Agent Orange presumptive policies as those who served in Vietnam itself.
VA staff would be granted “The authority to determine that a veteran participated in a toxic exposure risk activity when an exposure tracking record system does not contain the appropriate data,” a stark distinction from the science-only system in use at the VA currently. The measure is estimated to cost $281 billion over 10 years and would potentially affect as many as one in five veterans living today. The bill would authorize the setup of 31 major medical clinics across America and hire thousands more claims processors and health care staff.
Members can ask their Senators to support the bill on the FRA Action Center .
House Passes NDAA (H.R.7900)
As NewsBytes goes to press, the House is considering 650 of the 1230 floor amendments filed for the House version of the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA-H.R.7900). Two FRA supported amendments expanding concurrent receipt were not called for a vote. The measure would authorize $37 billion more than requested by the administration. The House is expected to approve the bill. Other provisions in the bill include:
- No TRICARE fee increases;
- Prohibiting the DoD from realigning or reducing military medical end strength until additional analysis on the impact;
- Providing a 4.6 percent annual pay increase for active duty and an inflation bonus of 2.4 percent for those troops making less than $45,000 a year;
- Adding $750 million to military commissaries to reduce prices for food and other necessities;
- Mandating DoD to report on an improved calculation of BAH rates;
- Extending DoD authority to provide a temporary increase in BAH until 2024;
- Excluding the Reserve Component from paying premiums and co-pays for TRICARE dental coverage;
- Allowing DoD to increase incentive payments to retain behavioral health providers;
- Prohibiting Chinese products in commissaries and exchanges;
Authorizing $53 million to provide assistance to local educational agencies with military dependent students and $22 million to assist with students with severe disabilities.
The Senate version of the FY 2023 NDAA is pending on the Senate floor and is not expected to be considered until after the August recess. Once the Senate approves its version of the NDAA, a conference committee will be appointed to resolve the differences between the two bills. That final bill will be submitted to the House and Senate for approval. If approved the bill will be sent to the President to be signed into law or vetoed.
House Passes Veterans Comprehensive Mental Health Bill
The House passed the “Support the Resilience of Our Nation’s Great Veterans Act” (H.R.6411) that is a comprehensive mental health bill to improve mental health programs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The provisions of the bill include:
- Strengthening VA’s mental health care workforce, expand care options, and support mental health research;
- Improving the Veterans Crisis Line’s (VCL) staff training, management, and response to veteran callers at risk of suicide;
- Enhancing the Solid Start program, which was created by VA in 2019 to contact every veteran three times by phone in the first year after they leave active-duty service to check-in and help connect them to VA programs and benefits;
- Directing the VA to designate one week per year as “Buddy Check Week” to organize outreach events and educate veterans on how to conduct peer wellness checks;
- Improving VA’s peer specialist support program, established through the VA MISSION Act, to all VA medical centers;
- Expanding Vet Center eligibility for counseling and related mental health services to family members of servicemembers or veterans who died by suicide; and
- Requiring the VA to report to Congress on its Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership (VITAL) program and assess the number of VA medical centers, institutions of higher learning, non-college degree programs, and student veterans supported by the program.
The FRA strongly supports this legislation to combat veteran suicide by strengthening VA’s mental health care workforce, bolstering the Veterans Crisis Line, and expanding life-saving resources to those veterans who need it. Members are strongly urged to use the FRA Action Center to urge their Senators to support this important bill.
Happy Birthday Marine Corps Band
The United States Marine Band was established by Congress on July 11, 1798. It is the oldest of the United States bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the United States. The Marine Band has been uniquely known as “The President's Own” since 1801 due to its historical connection to the President of the United States. The Marine Band has played at every presidential inauguration since 1801. President Thomas Jefferson gave it the title “The President’s Own.”
Today, the band performs in approximately 500 events every year. The Marine Band also travels across the country each October and November during its fall concert tour — a tradition that began in 1891 under its most famous director, composer John Philip Sousa.
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