[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 25, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3341-S3343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. BLUMENTHAL:
S. 1060. A bill to improve education, employment, independent living
services, and health care for veterans, to improve assistance for
homeless veterans, and to improve the administration of the Department
of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, we all have a shared commitment to our
Nation's veterans. That shared commitment is reflected in many of the
programs that are supported by yourself and my other colleagues in this
body every year. I deeply respect the knowledge and dedication that my
fellow Senators have brought to this critical issue. Each of my
colleagues, almost without exception, has supported measures that have
helped our veterans over the years.
I rise to introduce my first piece of legislation, a bill to help our
Nation's veterans.
Our Nation must keep faith with the men and women who have served and
sacrificed for our freedom. Unfortunately, and unconscionably, America
is still failing them and their families by tolerating unemployment,
homelessness, and inadequate health care. We must renew our commitment
to the more than 250,000 veterans in Connecticut and 22 million across
the country to ensure that no veteran is left behind.
Our commitment to veterans must be unwavering. Despite our best
intentions, we fail all too often to accord our veterans the support
they have earned. Unfortunately, according to the Department of
Veterans Affairs, more than 76,000 veterans are homeless on any given
night and nearly twice that number will be homeless at some point
during the year. The unemployment rate among veterans has doubled over
the past 3 years. Twenty-seven percent of veterans in their early
twenties are unemployed. That number is almost twice the unemployment
rate of their peers who have not served in the military. The Bureau of
Labor Statistics recently reported that unemployment for veterans who
served their country after September 2001 to be 11.5 percent, again, a
figure far higher than the national unemployment rate.
Twenty percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are estimated to
suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. When veterans return home,
they must wait at least half a year, on average, for a claims decision
by the Department of Veterans Affairs before they can receive benefits.
Those numbers are simply unacceptable. As I speak today, America's
longest war continues, with less than 1 percent of the Nation in
uniform. Never in the history of the country have so few fought for so
long, at such great personal cost and sacrifice.
Under the leadership of Secretary Shinseki, the Department of
Veterans Affairs has taken strong steps toward the goal of building a
21st century system that supports caregivers of seriously injured Iraq
and Afghanistan veterans, improving services to women veterans,
expanding the availability of health care, and preventing veteran
homelessness.
Gaps in the system remain, and they are debilitating, destructive,
and devastating for many veterans. We can do better and we must do
more. The legislation I introduce today is entitled Honoring All
Veterans Act of 2011. Its 16 comprehensive provisions are only the
first phase of my efforts.
This legislative proposal is a comprehensive package but only an
opening salvo in a sustained, unceasing campaign to ensure that no
veteran is left behind. It is a downpayment on a larger debt. The goal
is to give all veterans the homecoming and the services they need and
deserve. Our military men and women have kept their promise to serve
and sacrifice for this country, and we must now keep faith with them.
Our commitment to veterans should reflect the depth of their sacrifice.
This measure is entitled Honoring All Veterans Act because all veterans
are brave service men and women, serving today in places we can barely
pronounce the names of. They are deployed around the globe, and they
deserve to be honored for defending our freedom and democracy. We must
honor that service not only in words but in deed.
This legislation comes from veterans and their families--seeing and
hearing their struggles and dreams, their achievements and defeats as I
have worked for them during my 20 years as attorney general and 4-plus
months as a Senator.
In the VFW and American Legion halls, in living rooms, in school
auditoriums, and in countless gatherings across the State of
Connecticut, I have been privileged to listen and learn from veterans
and their families who have shared their personal stories and insights.
This legislation simply continues the work I have done as attorney
general. I worked to make the Department of Defense release information
on those who may have been improperly separated from military service,
and urged the Department of Veterans Affairs to update its obsolete
database systems that were preventing tens of thousands of disabled
veterans from obtaining deserved tax benefits. In 2007, I worked with
the Connecticut congressional delegation to make the Department of
Defense provide accurate information about educational benefits to
veterans. I have fought for them individually when they encountered
bureaucratic resistance and red tape from an unresponsive system. I am
proud of that work and proud, most important, of my partnership with
veterans in Connecticut in proposing this legislation. My goal then,
and it has been continuously, is to keep faith with our veterans, to
honor our promises to them.
This Honoring All Veterans Act of 2011 will address four key areas:
first, expanding job opportunities for veterans; second, assisting
homeless veterans; third, improving veterans health care, with a
special emphasis on mental health services; fourth, modernizing the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
On expanding job opportunities to honor all veterans and give them
the welcome home they deserve, we need to focus first on jobs. Like all
Americans, veterans are striving to provide for their families and
participate in the economic recovery to find jobs in our slowly
recovering economy. Good jobs require education and training, as well
[[Page S3342]]
as independent living services for veterans. Our Nation has done much
to address this issue, such as the expanded post-9/11 GI bill, but gaps
in the system remain. They are all too glaring. My legislation will
expand job opportunities in five significant ways.
First, the legislation raises the statutory cap for the Vocational
Rehabilitation and Employment Independent Living Program to welcome
hundreds of additional veterans. This vital program helps veterans with
severe service-connected disabilities, enabling them to live
independently. It helps veterans with those kinds of disabilities to
participate in family and community life and increases their potential
to return to work. There is a strong case for removing the cap on
participation in the program. I would like to recognize the
distinguished junior Senator from Hawaii for the work that he has done
in this regard. I hope that my legislation will ensure the program can
continue to assist veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan,
while Congress works to find funding to remove the cap completely.
Second, the legislation authorizes veterans to reuse the Department
of Defense Transition Assistance Program, known as TAP, and meet with
counselors at any military installation for up to 1 year after their
separation. This program was developed to assist military personnel
leaving the service with information about jobs, education, and career
development. Veterans returning to Connecticut wishing to participate
again in the Transition Assistance Program should have that opportunity
to participate for a second time, maybe even a third time. Coming back
from deployment, servicemembers are often focused on other important
aspects of the transition process, rather than how to find a job. They
may have never written a resume before or attended a job interview.
Having started the job search they have specific areas where they
realize they need help. I discussed this idea at a recent Senate Armed
Services Committee hearing with the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for
Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He testified that the military is right
now in the process of redesigning the TAP program. I am going to work
toward having this provision included in the redesign of the TAP
program so that TAP continues to be an opportunity once a servicemember
returns home.
Third, the legislation authorizes a study of how best to ensure that
civilian employers and educational institutions recognize veterans'
military training. The military recruits the most talented men and
women in America to serve, and then it invests heavily in their
professional development. Yet when they trade their uniforms in for
civilian clothes, employers and others such as professional accrediting
organizations often refuse to recognize or understand how to make use
of their military experience and the expertise they have gained.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America reported that 61 percent
of employers do not believe they have ``a complete understanding of the
qualifications ex-servicemembers offer,'' and recently separated
servicemembers with college degrees earn on average almost $10,000 less
per year than their nonveteran counterparts.
One way to close this gap is to have the Department of Defense review
the list of military occupations specialties, such as the 22 MOS's in
Army engineering or 16 MOS's in Army communications, and ensure that
completing MOS qualifications will provide those servicemembers with
credentials recognized by civilian employers.
The study authorized in this legislation will start that process. I
am committed to working in the Senate to see this problem resolved.
Fourth, the legislation reauthorizes the Veterans Education Outreach
Program to provide money for campus-based outreach services to
veterans. This program was first established in 1972 to provide
colleges with a significant number of veterans on campus with
additional resources to make sure those students get the most out of
their educational experience and use VA benefits available to assist
them. I believe that the return of veterans from deployments during the
Global War on Terror requires the same kind of on-campus support. While
there are other programs helping veterans pay the cost of tuition and
many colleges have great veterans services on-campus, the Veterans
Education Outreach Program is the missing link to ensuring veterans are
informed about their VA benefits and maximizing the opportunity to
study and obtain employment.
Fifth, the legislation authorizes a comprehensive program at the
Department of Labor to assist veterans with TBI or PTSD in the
workplace. It provides technical assistance to employers of veterans
living with those conditions and provides best practices relating to
helping those employees develop successful strategies for on-the-job
success. The legislation requires the Office of Disability Employment
Policy to coordinate an inter-agency working group which will produce a
federal homecoming plan for reintegration of these veterans. These
tasks have been conducted to a limited degree by the Department of
Labor through the America's Heroes at Work program and the Veterans
Employment & Training Services and they are to be commended for their
efforts to date. However, by defining these requirements in statute, it
is my hope that these programs will expand to reach all veterans that
need help.
This legislation also reaches veterans in a variety of other key
areas. Recently, a female veteran visited my office. She and her two
children were homeless and needed help. In their case, we could find
temporary shelter. But on the issue of homelessness, many veterans do
not know where to turn or are hesitant to do so. The current per diem
given to homeless veterans does not address rising costs and regional
variations in helping homeless veterans. Women are particularly
underserved now, and my hope is that new housing projects take care of
female veterans. For example, the Newington Mission Homeless Project in
my state will help forgotten heroes find shelter. The Honoring All
Veterans Act reforms the per diem program and helps military families
avoid homelessness by permanently extending their foreclosure
protection for servicemembers.
On improving veteran health care and mental health services, as I
have traveled Connecticut meeting with veterans, I have seen firsthand
how veterans with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress
disorder face unique challenges in accessing the Department of Veterans
Affairs for benefits and medical assistance. Veterans deserve the best
possible medical care, particularly when it comes to treating TBI or
post-traumatic stress. These are the signature wounds of the conflicts
in Afghanistan and Iraq. More than a quarter of these injuries are
undiagnosed, according to the military itself. Then too often, even if
they are diagnosed, servicemembers are screened but do not receive a
full course of treatment.
To address this issue, my legislation requires the Department of
Defense to identify and then close the gap between screenings and
treatment. Simply diagnosing a soldier or a marine with symptoms of
PTSD or TBI does not heal them.
This legislation also addresses the problem of finding qualified
psychiatrists, psychologists, and nursing professionals to work in VA
medical hospitals and outpatient clinics by accessing graduates from
the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. This
university trains outstanding medical professionals for military
service. Under existing law the Secretary may exempt graduates from
working in a military hospital after graduation, based upon forecast
demand. The Honoring All Veterans Act allows those graduates identified
by the Secretary as excess to military requirements to serve out their
commitment in the VA medical systems, rather than releasing them to
private hospitals. This provision is just one example of how the
legislation is crafted to better utilize the existing resources of the
DOD and VA medical systems.
Modernizing the Department of Veterans Affairs is the final section
of this legislation. It addresses the DOD and VA transition process
through improved monitoring and oversight. It increases pension
benefits and gives veterans grounds for appeal at the Board of Veterans
Appeals if the VA has misplaced or misfiled their documents.
I hear about this problem, as my colleagues do, again and again as I
listen to veterans. Recently, a veteran visited
[[Page S3343]]
my office. He has been waiting on a hearing date with the Board of
Veterans Appeals for over a year.
His story is typical.
This legislation provides much needed improvement to the Board of
Veterans Appeals. I look forward to working with my colleagues to
address other much needed improvements.
We can honor our veterans whose claims are stuck in the Board of
Veterans Appeals by confirming judges to the court that reviews them.
Three of those nine seats are now vacant, and each judge must preside
over 600 cases per year, far more than any other Federal appellate
court.
Finally, in closing, let me recognize the many veterans throughout
the State of Connecticut who helped me craft this measure.
I thank CDR Richard DiFederico of the VFW and CDR Daniel Thurston of
the American Legion for their very dedicated work, not only in
assisting me but day in and day out on behalf of veterans.
I thank Bob Janicki, who has spent recent years after serving this
country in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam era, for providing
help to homeless veterans and veterans seeking jobs.
Paul ``Bud'' Bucha is a veteran and friend with the most
distinguished service record possible in winning the Medal of Honor.
His life after military service, giving back to other veterans and
managing several successful companies, has been an example of how
veterans continue to provide leadership with courage and vision.
MSG Frank Alvarado has made a number of very helpful suggestions,
including, for example, reauthorizing the Veterans Education Outreach
Program.
I would also like to acknowledge my deep respect to Dr. Linda
Schwartz, who has been a tireless advocate for all veterans.
Connecticut is blessed to have the leadership of veterans who help
each other, care for each other, look out for each other. I look
forward to working with them in ensuring that this legislation is
passed. I have no illusions that accomplishing passage of these kinds
of measures will be easy, but I hope for support across the aisle. This
kind of goal certainly ought to unite us, not divide us. We have so
much more in common on this issue than in conflict. I am hoping we can
work together to ensure that we keep faith with our veterans, that we
honor their service, ensure that we welcome them home with the kind of
services they need and deserve so that no veteran will be left behind.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record
a summary of this legislation.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
The Honoring All Veterans Act of 2011
Section by Section Analysis
Title 1--Education, Employment, and Independent Living Services for
Veterans
1. Raises the statutory cap for Vocational Rehabilitation
and Employment Independent Living program participants from
2,700 new, per annum, to 3,000.
2. Authorizes veterans to retake the Transition Assistance
Program (TAP) and meet with counselors at any military
installation again up to 1 year after separation.
3. Authorizes a study of how best to ensure the recognition
of military training and qualifications that veterans have by
civilian employers and education institutions.
4. Reauthorizes the Veterans Education Outreach Program to
provide $6 million for campus-based outreach services to
veterans.
5. Directs the Secretary of Labor to provide technical
assistance to employers of veterans living with Traumatic
Brain Injury (TBI) and/or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) as they transition to the civilian workplace. Directs
the Secretary of Labor to provide best practices related to
helping employees with TBI and/or PTSD find and develop
successful strategies for on-the-job success. Directs the
Office of Disability Employment Policy to coordinate inter-
agency working group ``federal roundtables'' on TBI and PTSD
to produce a national homecoming plan that identifies the
role of each federal agency in the reintegration of these
veterans.
Title 2--Assistance for Homeless Veterans
1. Permanently extends foreclosure protection for service
members under the Service Members Civil Relief Act.
2. Reforms the daily Homeless Housing per diem voucher
program to take account of service costs and geographic
disparities. Allows use of other funds (such as those
authorized under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Grant) without offset.
Title 3--Health Care and Mental Health Services for Veterans
1. Directs DOD and VA to monitor referrals for mental
health care to ensure that individuals receive care.
2. Directs to VA to ensure that all TBI and PTSD patients
leave VA medical treatment with a plan for their long-term
care needs that utilizes a ``one-VA'' approach to capture and
employment and vocational services that can assist in long-
term care and rehabilitation.
3. Authorizes VA medical facilities to provide counseling
to family members of deployed service members.
4. Authorizes the VA medical system to receive graduates of
the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USU) to
serve veterans in Community-Based Outpatient Clinics and
readjustment counseling Vet Centers of the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
5. Authorizes the VA to Access State Prescription
Monitoring Programs to address substance abuse.
Title 4--Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs
1. Directs the DOD and VA to establish a monitoring
mechanism to identify and address challenges as they arise in
all DOD and VA facilities and offices involved in the single
separation physical process.
2. Authorizes an independent review board on the DOD to VA
transition process that includes the Inspector General from
each Agency and the GAO.
3. Reforms the Board of Veterans Appeals process to help
veterans with misfiled documents.
4. Increases the pension for disabled veterans married to
one another who require aid and attendance.
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