WASHINGTON — Ending sequestration again tops the list of critical
issues for the fall legislative conference of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of
the U.S.
“In
the six months of forced sequestration last year, all military training was
virtually eliminated in order to support the war effort,” said VFW National
Commander John W. Stroud, who arrives this weekend along with more than 70
members of the VFW Legislative Committee, who will be meeting with every member
of Congress or their staffs next week.
“The
forced sequester meant planes didn’t fly, ships didn’t sail and ground troops
didn’t train, all because Congress can’t reach a budget compromise,” he said.
“We are a nation still at war in Afghanistan, with thousands of troops
stationed in hot spots elsewhere, and now we’re fighting a new evil called the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The absolute last thing our troops need
to worry about is the budget uncertainty that Congress created and only
Congress can end. The failure of Congress to end the sequester, or to pass an
on-time defense budget, is having a perilous impact on a Defense Department
that, despite appearances, is very worried about its ability to respond to a
new contingency tasking elsewhere in our troubled world,” said Stroud.
Regarding
the Department of Veterans Affairs, the VFW will also deliver to Congress a new
report on the state of VA health care, entitled “Hurry Up and Wait,”
which analyzed the past four months of VFW outreach efforts — phone, email,
town hall meetings, and personal surveys — that enabled more than 1,600
veterans in all 50 states to share their VA health care experiences. The report
includes 11 specific recommendations to improve the state of VA care and
restore veterans’ confidence in the system, as well as the VFW’s expectations
for how VA must implement the new provisions included in the recently-passed Veterans
Access, Choice, and Accountability Act. Read the VFW report here.
Another
issue is to update the VFW’s congressional charter, which was signed in 1936 by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt when the military was comprised almost entirely
of men. The two wording changes — replacing men with veterans, and widows with
surviving spouses — is supported by two companion bills, S. 2782 and H.R. 5441,
which were introduced by Senate VA Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
and House VA Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), respectively.
“It
is critical for the VFW to give our veteran and military communities a voice on
Capitol Hill, especially with the end of the federal government’s fiscal year
less than three weeks away and still no new defense bill or an end to
sequestration,” said Stroud. “That’s why it’s so important for the VFW National
Legislative Committee to gather here twice a year to petition Congress on
issues that are vitally important to all veterans, service members and their
families.”