NewsBytes July 29, 2022      
     
In this issue:
Veterans Toxic Exposure Bill Stalls in Senate
Support Concurrent Receipt Amendments 
Senate Confirms Elnahal to be VA Under Secretary for Health
Korean War Memorial Expanded
Happy Birthday U.S. Coast Guard



Veterans Toxic Exposure Bill Stalls in Senate
As NewsBytes goes to press, the veteran’s toxic exposure bill (S.3373) failed to muster the needed 60 votes on the Senate floor on a vote to limit debate and lead to a final vote to send the bill onto the president to be signed into law. The legislation would create 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.

The measure is estimated to cost $270 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 are strongly urged to weigh in on this issue online. 


Support Concurrent Receipt Amendments 
The House has approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA-H.R.7900) and Senate Armed Services Committees has approved the Senate version of the annual NDAA (S.4543). The Senate bill will go to the Senate floor for approval. Senators Jon Tester (Mont.) and Michael Crapo (Idaho) will file a Senate floor amendment to add a provision to this “must-pass” bill to expand concurrent receipt. FRA supports comprehensive concurrent receipt reform. The FRA argues that retired pay is for years of arduous military service paid by the Department of Defense while disability pay is for lifelong injury paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). To reduce retirement pay because of a disability is an injustice.

Members can use the FRA Action Center to weigh in on this issue.

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. 


Senate Confirms Shereef Elnahal to be VA Under Secretary for Health
The Senate recently confirmed Dr. Shereef Elnahal to be Under Secretary for Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In May, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee unanimously advanced President Biden’s pick to lead the Veterans Health Administration, a role that has been without permanent leadership since 2017. In this role, Elnahal will oversee the VA health care system—providing care to more than nine million veterans and employing more than 347,000 health care workers. 

Dr. Elnahal is a physician who most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey from 2019 through 2022. Prior to this role, Elnahal served as New Jersey’s 21st Health Commissioner. He also served as Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Quality, Safety, and Value at VA from 2016 through 2018. He earned a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and went to Harvard Business School and Harvard Medical School, graduating from both in 2012.


Korean War Memorial Expanded
The Korean War Memorial on the Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C. was renovated to include a new wall listing Americans killed in the Korean conflict, which has often been referred to “America’s Forgotten War.” The $22 million renovation was authorized in the FY2016 National Defense Authorization Act and provides 100 panels bearing the names of 36,634 American servicemembers and 7,174 Korean troops serving with the U.S. military. This week marks the 69th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement ending the hostilities.  


Happy Birthday U.S. Coast Guard
DLP John Davis attended a cake cutting ceremony on Capitol Hill to celebrate the 232nd birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard. The Commandant of the Coast Guard Linda Fagan, Rep. John Garamendi (Calif.) and Sens. Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Angus King (Maine), and Rick Scott (Fla.) spoke at the event. 

Congress created the agency on August 4, 1790, when it authorized the construction of 10 vessels to enforce tariff and trade laws, prevent smuggling, and protect the collection of federal revenue. Responsibilities added over the years included humanitarian duties such as aiding mariners in distress.
The service received its present name in 1915 when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the U.S. Life-Saving Service to form a single maritime service dedicated to the safety of life at sea and enforcing the nation's maritime laws.

The Coast Guard is a multi-mission, maritime, military service. Its mission is to protect the public, the environment and U.S. economic interests in the nation's waterways, along the coast, on international waters, or in any maritime region as required to support national security.

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