National Legislative Service

Carrying the Voice of 22 Million Veterans

Our nation made a promise to those who serve, and we fight to ensure it's kept.

Legislative Priorities

The location of our Washington, D.C., office allows us to monitor all legislation affecting veterans, alert VFW membership to key legislation under consideration and to actively lobby Congress and the administration on veterans' issues. National Legislative Service establishes the VFW's legislative priorities and advocates on veterans' behalf. By testifying at congressional committee hearings and interacting with congressional members, the VFW has played an instrumental role in nearly every piece of veterans' legislation passed since the beginning of the 20th century. Everything we do on Capitol Hill is with the VFW’s Priority Goals and veterans' well-being in mind. With the strength of the more than 1.4 million members of the VFW and its Auxiliary, our voice on Capitol Hill cannot be ignored!

Among the VFW's most recent and important legislative victories was expanding college education benefits for military service members with the signing of the Forever GI Bill, and ensuring America's service members and veterans receive the care they deserve - whenever and wherever they need it - by passing the VA MISSION Act.

 

Our 2025 Priority Goals:

 

  • Budget

    To fully fund programs for veterans, service members, and their families, Congress must:

    • Ensure sufficient, timely appropriations and proper budget oversight for VA.
    • Authorize VA to receive reimbursements from TRICARE and Medicare.
    • Never reduce one veteran’s benefits to pay for another.
    • Modernize and reform VA and DOD programs that do not meet the needs of service members, veterans, and families. 
       
  • Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs

    To ensure veterans and their survivors have timely access to earned benefits, Congress and VA must: 

    • Crack down on unaccredited claims consultants known as Claim Sharks.
    • Study all toxic and environmental exposures, and implement programs to ensure health care and benefits are provided to all exposed service members and veterans.
    • Properly oversee and update the modernized appeals process, digital claims processing, and antiquated examination process.
    • Increase Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, burial allowances, and other benefits for survivors.
    • Improve the accuracy of disability compensation claims related to military sexual trauma. 
    • Ensure that earned VA benefits are never unjustly reduced. 
       
  • Education, Employment and Transition Assistance

    To ensure veterans succeed after leaving military service, Congress, VA, DOD, and DOL must:

    • Improve education benefits through modernized online student housing allowances, child care stipends, parity for Guard and Reserve members, and elimination of delimiting dates.
    • Enhance outreach and counseling to veterans eligible for the Veteran Readiness and Employment program.
    • Ensure parity of VA and DOD education programs with other federal programs.
    • Expand small business, hiring preference, tax incentives, and entrepreneurship resources for veterans and military spouses.
    • Increase funding for HUD-VASH vouchers, grant and per diem payments, and pilot programs to combat veteran homelessness.
    • Conduct oversight of VA's Transition Assistance Program to ensure compliance with the law, and require the inclusion of accredited claims representatives.
    • Eliminate red tape preventing effective use of education and employment benefits. 
       
     
  • Health Care

    To ensure service members and veterans receive timely access to high-quality health care without increasing cost shares, Congress, VA, and DOD must:

    • Eliminate service member and veteran suicide.
    • Reform the dysfunctional community care program at VA.
    • Strengthen care and research for mental health and traumatic brain injuries.
    • Research the efficacy of plant-based alternative therapies for PTSD.
    • Improve oversight of Vet Centers to ensure adequate staffing, resources, and funding.
    • Enhance programs and services for women and underserved veterans.
    • Preserve the integrity of TRICARE.
    • Properly implement VA and DOD health IT systems.
    • Expand nursing home eligibility and long-term care options.
    • Modernize care for veterans outside of the United States.
  • Military Readiness

    To maintain a quality, comprehensive benefits and retirement package that is the backbone for preserving the all-volunteer force, Congress and DOD must:

    • Enhance quality of life and health care programs that allow service members to focus on the mission.
    • Ensure equity of benefits for Reserve Component service members.
    • End the military retirement pay and VA disability compensation offset.
    • Provide benefits enrollment for all transitioning service members.
    • Eliminate sexual assault and harassment from the military.
    • Increase military base pay comparability with private sector wages. 
    • Ensure that military housing and work spaces are safe and modern.
    • Eliminate food insecurity in the military. 
       

  • National Security, Foreign Affairs and POW/MIA

    To fully support the all-volunteer force, protect our nation’s citizens, and defend American interests around the world, Congress and DOD must:

    • Ensure DPAA is fully funded to perform its personnel recovery mission.
    • Deter threats to our national security by supporting our allies in Ukraine, Israel, Korea, and Taiwan.
    • Ensure all service members who served in harm’s way, to include foreign nationals, translators, and allies receive the recognition, care, and benefits they may have earned. 
       

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