NewsBytes August 12, 2022
In this issue:
Veterans Toxic Exposure Bill Becomes Law
Hearing on Nominees for Critical VA Positions
Military Veterans in Congress
President Signs Veterans Toxic Exposure Bill into Law
The FRA National Executive Director Christopher J. Slawinski attended the bill signing ceremony at the White House where President Joe Biden signed into law the comprehensive veteran’s toxic exposure bill (S.3373). The bill 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.
The 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 $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.
FRA NED Slawinski testified before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on March 29, 2022, in support of the veterans’ toxic exposure legislation. He noted his testimony that military service for our nation can require service members to go places that may expose them to toxins that cause illness and diseases that may not be diagnosed for years or even decades after their service. That is why the Fleet Reserve Association is a member of the Toxic Exposures in the American Military (TEAM) Coalition to ensure that no veteran who suffered exposure to burn pits or other environmental toxins goes without access to VA health care benefits. FRA wants to thank the thousands of members that weighed in on this issue. Your efforts helped pass this important legislation.
SVAC Hearing on Nominees to Fill Critical Positions at VA
The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a hearing to consider the nomination of Anjali Chaturvedi to be the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) General Counsel and Jaime Areizaga-Soto to be the Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. The VA’s General Counsel serves as the Department’s in-house counsel responsible for providing legal advice and representation to VA, among many other duties. The Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals leads and executes the Board’s mission of conducting hearings and deciding appeals on benefits and services for veterans and their families. Both positions require Senate confirmation.
From 1997 to 2013, Areizaga-Soto served in the District of Columbia Army National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. From 2011 to 2013, Areizaga-Soto managed Latino outreach for the Democratic Party of Virginia. In 2012 and 2013, he was deputy director of the Democratic National Committee for Hispanic affairs. He was also president of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia in 2013 and 2014. From 2015 to 2018, he served in the National Guard Bureau. In 2016 and 2017, he was vice president of the Hispanic National Bar Association for membership. Areizaga-Soto also served as a deputy secretary in the Virginia Department of Veterans and Defense Affairs.
Anjali Chaturvedi left Northrop in February after more than seven years of service to join the Department of Justice’s criminal division as deputy assistant attorney general. She previously served as assistant general counsel at British Petroleum (BP) and was a partner in Nixon Peabody’s Washington, D.C. law firm. Between 1994 and 2006, she worked for the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the Northern District of California and the District of Columbia. As an adjunct professor, Chaturvedi taught criminal procedure at the University of California Hastings College of Law and trial advocacy at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Military Veterans in Congress
Veterans currently make up 17 percent of Congress with 91 serving (63 Republicans and 28 Democrats) in the 117th Congress (2021-2022). Veterans made up less than 18 percent (96) of Congress in the previous Congress. The number of veterans serving in Congress has been declining since the 1970s. In 1973, almost three out of four members of Congress had served in the military. In 2018 veterans serving in Congress created the bipartisan For Country Caucus for these veterans to promote policies that put the country over political party. The caucus is currently co-chaired by Reps Jared Golden (Me.) and Don Beacon (Neb.).
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