Newsbytes July 31, 2026

In this issue:
Senate Blocks Both Veterans Packages
Senate Examines VA Research Strain
VA Tests GLP-1 for Alcohol Use
Suicidal Thoughts Rise Among Veterans
First USO Center Aboard a Cutter

Senate Blocks Both Veterans Packages
The Major Richard Star Act remains stalled after the Senate blocked both versions of the package carrying it, leaving roughly 54,000 combat injured retirees waiting once again. On Wednesday, July 29, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, asked unanimous consent to advance an amended version of the "Take Care of America's Veterans Act" (H.R. 9237 / S. 4744) that would replace the bill's contested funding mechanism with unobligated Defense Department money from the 2025 reconciliation law. Committee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS) objected immediately, telling the chamber that the Congressional Budget Office had raised concerns that using appropriated defense dollars to pay for mandatory veterans benefits would not comply with federal law.

Chairman Moran then moved to advance the package with its original funding mechanism intact. Sen. Blumenthal objected, and the measure stopped where it started. Under Senate rules, a single objection is enough to halt a unanimous consent request. The package bundles more than 60 bipartisan measures that have stalled for lack of funding, including the Star Act and the Love Lives On Act. The House pulled its version from the floor on July 16 after a motion to send the bill back to the Veterans' Affairs Committee failed by a single vote, 210 to 211.

The Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) holds the same three positions it has held since this package was introduced, and Wednesday changed none of them. FRA supports the Major Richard Star Act without condition, delay, or phase in. FRA opposes the funding mechanism in the underlying bill, which pays for those benefits by reducing future disability compensation for tinnitus and sleep apnea, two of the most commonly service connected conditions among Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen. Ending one offset by creating another is not reform, and the Sacred Trust is not a ledger to be balanced against itself.

FRA also continues to press for an equitable restructuring of the compensation caps across pay grades so that the burden of any adjustment does not fall on junior enlisted retirees. The Association will remain engaged with both committees and with our coalition partners to find a path that delivers the Star Act without stripping earned compensation from another group of veterans to pay for it.

Senate Examines VA Research Strain
The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing on Wednesday, July 22, titled "Advancing the Mission: Evaluating the Future of VA Research," examining whether the Department of Veterans Affairs can sustain its research mission under current hiring, staffing, and contracting conditions. The VA Office of Research and Development supports health research at more than 115 VA facilities nationwide, and roughly 80 percent of its investigators are also practicing clinicians treating veterans.

Members and witnesses described a research enterprise slowed by administrative friction rather than a shortage of scientific talent. Testimony and member statements pointed to study startup times exceeding a year, hiring delays running as long as six months, and a large population of researchers working under time limited appointments that require repeated renewal. Because most VA investigators hold dual appointments with academic affiliates, a lapse in one appointment can halt an active clinical trial outright. Witnesses included officials from the Veterans Health Administration alongside outside research organizations.

FRA supports sustained funding and administrative relief for the VA research enterprise. Sea service veterans have benefited directly from work that began in VA laboratories, from the implantable cardiac pacemaker to the first successful liver transplant, and the current portfolio includes the blast overpressure, toxic exposure, and traumatic brain injury research that bears most directly on our membership. The Association urges the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees to grant the Office of Research and Development modernized hiring flexibilities and predictable, inflation adjusted funding so that discoveries reach the veteran's bedside without waiting on a personnel action.

VA Tests GLP-1 for Alcohol Use
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Thursday, July 30, that it has begun enrolling veterans in a nationwide clinical trial testing whether semaglutide, the GLP-1 medication marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy, can reduce heavy drinking among veterans with alcohol use disorder. The trial, named the Cessation or Reduction of Alcohol Consumption in Veterans study, or CRAVE, opened recruitment on July 28 and will enroll more than 600 veterans between the ages of 18 and 80 at 18 VA medical centers. VA reports that alcohol use disorder has been diagnosed in more than 400,000 veterans nationwide.

Participants with moderate or severe alcohol use disorder will receive weekly injections of either semaglutide or a placebo over 24 weeks, followed by a safety evaluation. Researchers will track changes in alcohol consumption, overall health, and quality of life. Semaglutide is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management but is not approved to treat alcohol use disorder, and VA researchers are studying whether the drug acts on the brain's reward pathways in a way that dampens craving. VA has cautioned veterans not to self medicate and not to substitute these medications for established treatment without first consulting a health care provider.

FRA welcomes the VA's willingness to test new approaches to a problem the sea services have lived with for generations. Alcohol use disorder rarely arrives alone; it travels with chronic pain, acoustic trauma, and post traumatic stress, and Shipmates who have carried those injuries deserve more than one treatment pathway. The Association will follow the trial closely and urges VA to move promptly to broad availability if the results support it. Veterans interested in participating should speak with their VA provider, and existing treatment plans should not be changed without clinical guidance.

Suicidal Thoughts Rise Among Veterans
Veterans enrolled in VA care are substantially more likely to be connected to mental health treatment, according to a national study published July 20 in JAMA Network Open by researchers at the VA National Center for PTSD and the Yale School of Medicine. Drawing on the 2025 to 2026 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, a survey of 2,636 veterans, the researchers found that veterans who use VA for primary care were twice as likely to have received mental health treatment at some point in their lives, and that more than half of those using VA health care were actively enrolled in mental health services.

The same study found that the share of veterans reporting suicidal thoughts in the previous two weeks rose to 13.4 percent, up from 9 percent in the 2019 to 2020 survey, an increase of nearly 50 percent over five years. Rates of suicide planning and suicide attempts remained statistically unchanged across the veteran population, though younger veterans and women veterans reported higher rates across all three measures. Fewer than 37 percent of veterans reporting recent suicidal thoughts were receiving mental health care of any kind. The most recent national data show 6,398 veterans died by suicide in 2024.

FRA urges every Shipmate and every family member to treat enrollment in VA care as a readiness matter rather than a last resort. The finding that connection to VA care doubles the likelihood of receiving treatment is the most actionable result in this study, and the finding that most veterans with recent suicidal thoughts are not in care is the most urgent. Help is available at any hour. Veterans in crisis and those concerned about a Shipmate can dial 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat. Enrollment in VA benefits or health care is not required, and eligible veterans in a suicidal crisis can receive emergency care at any VA or community emergency room at no cost.

First USO Center Aboard a Cutter
The United Service Organizations continues to expand its afloat footprint, and for the first time that expansion will reach the Coast Guard. The USO has announced plans to open a center aboard the USCGC Polar Star, the Coast Guard's heavy icebreaker, alongside new centers aboard the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and the pre-commissioning unit John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). The Polar Star center would be the first USO center aboard a Coast Guard cutter, a welcome recognition that Coast Guardsmen deploy under the same isolation and operational strain as their Navy and Marine Corps counterparts.

The USO opened its first ship based center aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in June 2023 and has since expanded to aircraft carriers and destroyers across the fleet. In July 2025 the USS Iwo Jima became the first amphibious assault ship to receive one, serving the 2,200 Sailors and embarked Marines aboard. The centers are fitted into shipboard compartments and offer many of the same amenities as their shore based counterparts, including comfortable seating, televisions, video and board games, privacy phone booths for calls home, and snacks.

FRA commends the USO for bringing this support to the deck plates, and particularly for extending it to a Coast Guard crew. For a junior Sailor, Coastie or Marine six weeks into an underway with no port call in sight, a compartment set aside for rest and a call home is not a luxury. It is part of what keeps a crew ready. The Association encourages Shipmates to support organizations that invest in quality of service for deployed crews.