Current Events & Legislation Affecting Veterans

Voting 25 For and 75 Against, the Senate on Wednesday, April 13th, failed to kill an amendment increasing the military death gratuity from $12,420 to $100,000, payable for all deaths during active duty, not just those occurring in combat as is the case now. The higher figure was added to HR 1268. Depending upon insurance levels, survivors could receive up to $500,000 from gratuity and insurance.

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation and the VA is taking action to safeguard confidential information. The changes will ensure veteran's personal information is protected and helps prevent the theft of important benefits and services that they earned by their military service.

A newly designed ID card, formerly known as the Veterans' Identification card (VIC), will have the veterans' photos on the front and will identify them as enrolled in the VA's health care system. The card includes the words "service connected" under the photo if the veteran has a service connected disability

Veterans should request the new card at their local VA Medical Center. VA hopes to complete the conversion to the new, safer card by mid-November 2005. The existing cards will remain valid until the veteran receives the new card.

Legislation has been introduced into the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives that would reform and enhance the funding process for the VA health care system. HR515, introduced by the House Veterans' Affairs Committee ranking Democrat, Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL), and S331 introduced in the Senate by Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), would require the Treasurery Secretary to annually provide funding for the VA health care system based on the number of enrolees in the system and the the consumer price index for hospital and related services.

Veterans are urged to contact their Senators and Representatives and ask them to support this important legislation. It would ensure that funds for medical care is available at the start of the Federal fiscal year. This would eliminate the year to year uncertainty about funding levels that has prevented the VA from being able to plan for and meet the growing needs of veterans seeking treatment.

VA home loans are made to veterans, service members and reservists. With VA guaranteeing part of the loan, veterans can receive a good interest rate without having to make a down payment. The changes took effect 10 December 2004 when President Bush signed the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004. The law also allows for limits to keep pace with rising home values More information about VA home loan benefits is available at www.homeloans.va.gov.

Neither the DOD or the NPRC intends to to destroy any OMPFs stored at the Center. The purpose of any electronic scanning would be to help preserve the originals and increase in handling record reference requests. Record requests resulting from false rumors will have a negative impact on NPRC's ability to respond to requests from veterans with real immediate needs, such as medical treatment, employment,retirement, etc.

The Honorable R. James "Jim" Nicholson has been confirmed as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, replacing Anthony J. Principi, who announced his resignation in December 2004. Secretary Principi has since been nominated by President Bush to become Chairman of the Base Closurse Commission (BRAC).

Secretary Nicholson, an Iowa native, is a 1961 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. He served eight years on active duty as a paratrooper and Ranger qualified Army Officer, then twenty years in the Army Reserve, retiring as a full Colonel. The Secretary is a Vietnam War veteran, Colorado business man and former Chairman of the Republican National Committee. In Vietnam he earned the Bronze Star Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry and two Air Medals.

Prior to his confirmation, Mr. Nicholson served as U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See at the Vatican, a position he held since 2001, where he became a well known advocate in Rome for the elevation of human dignity, giving special emphasis to human trafficking, religious freedom, starvation and biotech food and international terrorism. Pope John Paul II knighted Secretary Nicholson for his work representing the United States in the Vatican.

The aging of the veteran population is a major issue confronting the vA. today 9.6 million veterans are age 65 and older, representing 30% of the veteran population. By 2030, the proportion of older veterans will increase to 45% of the total. As in the general U.S. population, those age 85 and older are the fastest growing segment of the population, representing 3% of current veterans. The number of veterans age 85 and older is expected to double from 764,000 to 1.4 million between 2003 and 2012.

The VA's Geriatric, Research, Education and Clinic Center (GRECC) program was started in 1975 to imcrease basic knowledge of the aging process, share that knowledge with other health care providers and improve the overall quality of care for elderly veterans. Their research includes biomedical, applied clinical health services, and rehabilitation research. Yhese programs not only benefit older veterans, but are also expected beyond the veteran community, both nationally and internationally.