NewsBytes September 13, 2019
In this issue:
NDAA and Spending Bills
Senators Urge VA to Expand List of Medical Conditions for Agent Orange Exposure
9/11 Attack Remembered
September is Suicide Awareness Month
NDAA and Spending Bills
Key lawmakers and the White House agreed on top-line numbers for spending bills before Congress went on its summer recess. Now that they are back for three weeks before the start of the new fiscal year there is much legislative work to get done before the Oct. 1, 2019 deadline. The House has passed 10 of the 12 appropriations bills, but some do not conform to the budget agreement. The Senate has not passed any, so a short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep government open after Oct. 1, 2019 is all but certain. The House is expected to pass a CR next week that flat lines spending at FY2019 levels that will start on October 1 and end on Nov. 21, 2019. This will give legislators time to complete work on appropriations.
Lawmakers will also be trying to reach an agreement on the competing National Defense Authorization Acts (H.R.2500 and S.1790) passed by their chamber of origin earlier. In addition, they need to resolve differences in total spending — $733 billion in the House vs. $750 billion in the Senate. There are a number of other disagreements between the two bills; among them are three important provisions for FRA members. A conference committee will be appointed to resolve the differences between the two bills. The House bill has several FRA supported provisions that are not in the Senate bill. Members are urged to ask their Senators to support House provisions in the final bill that include:
• Repealing the SBP/DIC Offset known as the Widow’s Tax;
• Delaying proposed drastic cuts to military medical staff and require a study on the impact; and
• Allowing military service members to sue the DoD for instances of medical malpractice unrelated to combat.
The conference committee bill will be submitted to the House and Senate for approval. If approved by both chambers the bill will go to the President to be signed into law or be vetoed. Members are urged to use this Action Center on the website to ask their Senators to accept the above referenced provisions in the final NDAA bill. The issues are listed in “Ask Senators to Support House Provisions in Final NDAA ” on the Action Center website.
Senators Urge VA to Expand List of Medical Conditions for Agent Orange Exposure
Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Jon Tester (Mont.) and six Senate colleagues dispatched a letter to Secretary Robert Wilkie, urging the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to take action on behalf of thousands of veterans across the country living with chronic health conditions, by expanding the VA’s list of medical conditions associated with exposure to Agent Orange.
“Mr. Secretary, thousands of veterans – many of whom are aging and in urgent need of critical health care and other benefits – have waited far too long for a final decision that should have been made by the VA in 2016,” wrote the Senators. “We therefore urge you to add Parkinsonism, Bladder Cancer, Hypertension and Hyperthyroidism to the list of presumptive health outcomes for service-connected exposure to Agent Orange without further delay.”
The Senators also called into question the Department’s delay in adding Parkinsonism to the list of conditions: “It seems arbitrary to make a distinction between Parkinson’s and Parkinsonism as both severely affect the health and quality of life for veterans… We owe it to our veterans to lift the burden of proving their symptoms are the nexus for service-connected herbicide exposure.”
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act (H.R.299) into law— a long overdue legislative step to ensure that more Vietnam veterans living with the effects of exposure to Agent Orange receive the benefits and care they have earned and urgently need. This law also extends presumption of Agent Orange exposure to more veterans who served in or near the Korean Demilitarized Zone and provide benefits to children of Vietnam veterans who served in Thailand and were born with spina bifida.
For more information on this issue go online .
9/11 Attack Remembered
Across the country there were ceremonies remembering the tragic loss of life 18 years ago caused by a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The coordinated suicide attack was launched by a terrorist organization with no real military objectives and included our largest city and our nation’s Capital, as targets. The only real goal was to kill as many Americans as possible. Since 9/11, America has launched a “global war on terrorism” that is still ongoing today.
President Donald Trump and the First Lady participated in a ceremony at the White House and at the Pentagon. A large American flag was draped over the portion of the Pentagon that was hit by the hijacked commercial airliner. The names of those killed were read at a bell ringing ceremony.
Members of Congress attended a remembrance ceremony on Capitol Hill. Vice President Mike Pence participated in a ceremony near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. There was a ceremony at “ground zero” in New York City where the World Trade Center towers were destroyed. Ceremonies remembered the ordinary citizens that 18 years ago, rose to the challenge and responded with extraordinary acts of courage. Ceremonies also paid tribute to the first responders (fireman, police, EMS) and men and women in uniform who keep us safe, fighting terrorism around the world today.
September is Suicide Awareness Month
The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Military Health System (MHS) are observing September as Suicide Prevention Month. They want to increase awareness about behavioral health care services and promote and enhance suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention for service members and their families.
The goal is to reduce the stigma and increase awareness in order to facilitate help-seeking behaviors. MHS will highlight that strength and resilience are possible through support networks and the use of DoD and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) resources. The VA also declared September to be suicide awareness month. The Veterans Crisis Line telephone number is 800-273-8255, then press 1.
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