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Legislative Alert

Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act | Armenian Genocide Resolution | USDR Annual Appeal for Financial Help | Immediate Action Needed to ensure FMAP extension passes the House | Panel Recommends INCREASED Defense Spending But CUTS in TRICARE | Congress Approves Supplemental War Funds | PA's Fire and EMS Providers NEED help in Harrisburg! | Tell Congress to Pass Supplemental Funding Bill | Senate Cuts Expansion of Concurrent Receipt | Time to Support Department of Defense Program Funding | How Do I Really Make An Impact? | Afghanistan: Don't Escalate, Remediate | Provides Veterans Status for "Gray-Area" Retirees | Urge Senate to pass S. 1450: Gold Star Parents Bill | Tell Congress to Pass Supplemental Funding Bill | NEW ALERT - Tell the House To Pass H.R. 4899, the Supplemental Funding Bill  
 
To stay inform with everyday Legislative Alerts from Congress just click on:  Veteran Issues from Congress
 
Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act on August 28, 2010

STOP TRICARE Fee increases!

As you are aware the Secretary of Defense is pushing for military retirees to assume a greater share of Tricare and Tricare for Life costs. Earlier this year, Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX) and Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) introduced H.R. 816, "The Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act" that would prohibit DoD from increasing TRICARE fees, specifying that the authority to increase TRICARE fees exists only in Congress.

The Defense Department needs to do more to investigate other options to make TRICARE more cost-efficient as an alternative to shifting costs to retiree beneficiaries.

Our nation is at war and imposing higher healthcare costs on retirees sends a powerful negative message not only to retirees, but to those currently serving about the value of their service to the nation. Unlike private sector employees, military retirees have answered the call to serve, and most have done so under extremely difficult circumstances while separated from their families to defend the freedoms we enjoy today.
 
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Urge Passage of H. Res. 252 - Armenian Genocide Resolution on August 20, 2010

Affirm the Truth, Defeat Denial

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION H. RES. 252

On March 4, 2010, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), passed H. Res. 252, the Armenian Genocide Resolution, introduced by Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), George Radanovich (R-CA), along with Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). Passage through the Committee now sets the stage for a vote by the full House of Representatives.

The House resolution has garnered strong bi-partisan support with over 140 cosponsors. The Armenian Assembly of America urges swift passage of this important human rights legislation and calls upon all people of good will to stand up to genocide denial.

Please take 30 seconds and send a free email to your Representative calling for a vote on the House floor this year!!!
 
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USDR Annual Appeal for Financial Help on August 20, 2010

Dear Devoted USDR Legislative Alerts Subscribers,

Last year the majority of the membership surveyed agreed to keep the USDR as independent rather than merging with another organization. On New Year's Eve our elected President Dan Hill passed away, may he Rest in Peace!

Our paid membership stands at 1,040 members, down 166 members from 2009. Our CAPWIZ legislative action program is 15,026 activists strong, and in the past 12 months we have issued some 41 Legislative Action Alerts. For any given alert approximately 60% will open and read the alert and 20% will action the alert to targeted officials. Contract renewal fees have increased from $6000 to $7200. With our increased subscriber ship and good participation we incurred $1900 message over run fees from the number included in the contract.

We continue to mail our Sentinel Newsletter to every USDR member four times per year, and our USDR.ORG website has had over 3,208,468 page hits, 432,789 visitors, and 270,526 unique visitors since it was reopened on April 15, 2007. All this is accomplished on a $25,300.00 annual budget. Recall that all USDR leadership serves without pay; only the Executive Secretary receives any remuneration for her efforts and she voluntarily requested only half of what she was offered.

Compare these accomplishments to any other major military/veteran service organizations and you will see that we are the best deal around. However, that being said, we still need your financial support to continue these programs. This is why we are once again ask for donations.

As you can see, our small national organization is still providing the best ROI (return on investment) and continues to make great headway with our legislative advocacy. Headway that leads the way among all the other veteran and military organizations. Our accomplishments are great only because of you, our members and donors, and because of the tremendous volunteers we have.

Please donate what you can and send to:

USDR
PO Box 1121
St. Cloud, MN 56302-1121

Alternatively you can donate online through Pay Pal at: www.usdr.org

Also, please consider getting a friend to join or send a donation. In closing, we thank you for your continued support and continued assistance!
 
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Immediate Action Needed to ensure FMAP extension passes the House on August 9, 2010

After last week’s significant victory in the Senate on FMAP (click here to find more information about the Senate’s recent action) we are asking you for one last grassroots push. With your help, we can push FMAP over the top.

As you know, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling the House back into session to take up FMAP tomorrow. So now, we need one more big push over the next twenty-four hours. We need you to reach out one more time on FMAP by contacting your Member of Congress and urging them to support the FMAP bill. Click here to send a letter to your Representative asking them to support this critically important bill.

With your help, we’ve come so far on this issue in a very difficult budgetary climate. All of you should be proud of your grassroots efforts, which to date total over 75,000 letters to Capitol Hill, hundreds of meetings focused on this issue, and nearly thirty stops on our Driving for Quality Care RV Tour. We know from our friends on Capitol Hill that AHCA/NCAL members are being heard.
 
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Panel Recommends INCREASED Defense Spending But CUTS in TRICARE on August 7, 2010

The Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel, co-chaired by former Clinton administration Secretary of Defense William Perry and former Bush administration National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, reported this week in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that spending by the Pentagon should increase in the years ahead and not decline. The report and testimony of Perry and Hadley says that even though the 2011 NDAA is the largest in history, when figured for inflation, is insufficient to meet the demands placed on the Pentagon. They recommend that the Navy grow in size, all services recapitalize their equipment and personnel levels should increase slightly.

Unfortunately, Perry and Hadley also took a shot at TRICARE, saying that retirees need to pay more or national defense will be harmed.

But they make no mention of clamping down on spending for special interest pork projects; there was also no mention of the Senate Armed Services Committee shifting a billion dollars from the President's request for Afghanistan training to pay for costly special interest earmarks. No, they said it was the retirees' fault.

They also made no mention that some 500,000 Chapter 61 medical disability retirees with less than 20 years service are still being discriminated against and cheated out of their EARNED military retirement pay. Inexplicably many are retired with 19+ years, when they could be retained in administrative duties and be retired with 20 years of service.
 
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Congress Approves Supplemental War Funds on July 29, 2010

H.R. 4899 Now Awaits Presidents Signature

On July 27, the House muscled through Senate-approved legislation that pays for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. H.R. 4899 now awaits the Presidents signature.

The additional funding provided in H.R. 4899 prevents drastic action by DoD to ensure uninterrupted operations in the combat zone. These steps would have included diverting funds from day-to-day programs, furloughing civilian employees and eventually withholding pay and allowances from the troops.

After months of haggling over the issue, it was good to see lawmakers set aside their differences for the sake of the troops. There is after all, no more important task for Congress than to make certain our defenders of freedom have the resources they need.

NAUS thanks everyone who used our CapWiz Alert System to contact his or her elected officials on the supplemental war-funding bill. Your effort combined with that of thousands of others helped punch this issue through at the time it mattered most.
 
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PA's Fire and EMS Providers NEED help in Harrisburg! on July 28, 2010

Contact your legislators and let them know what we need!

As your legislators take their 'summer recess', use the opportunity to reach out to them and discuss issues important to you and your department. Here is a quick review of a few PESLA.org legislative priorities for this session. If you'd like more information about any of these individual bills, please visit PESLA.org...you can also get members of your departments registered to vote in the upcoming elections!

•HB250: Is a Bill that would authorize municipalities to enact a tax credit against an active volunteer fire fighter's volunteer's earned income and property tax liability as a financial incentive to volunteer. It's currently in the Senate Finance Committee, link to the bill here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm...

•HB810: Would provide for relief payment of EMS Training. More info here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history...

•HB2321: In support of the Grant Program, more info here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history...

Other issues of general importance to ALL fire and EMS providers in Pennsylvania include; Cancer Presumption (HB1231) and vocal support of the Sprinkler Requirement in our statewide building code. Repealing any part of this law will be a big step backward for firefighter life safety! We'd like to see the PA House pass SB851 to exempt VFD's from the Open Records law and HB325 which streamlines PA Sales Tax compliance for VFD's.

As always, we ask for your support in getting as many of your fellow responders as possible to join us at PESLA.org!
 
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Tell Congress to Pass Supplemental Funding Bill on July 24, 2010

Provides Needed Funding for Troops in Iraq, Afghanistan

On July 22 the Senate passed a version of the supplemental spending bill which stripped out domestic spending issues leaving only funds for DoD, VA and Disaster Recovery. They have returned it to the House for concurrance.

Our deployed men and women, fighting on two fronts, need this funding in place as soon as possible.

Please ask your elected officials to pass this bill without further delay and BEFORE they recess for their Summer break. Unlike Members of Congress, our troops don't get a Summer break, but they should have this funding in place.
 
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Senate Cuts Expansion of Concurrent Receipt on July 22, 2010

Another congressional effort to expand concurrent receipt of military retired pay and veterans disability compensation has failed. Facing election-year pressure to dramatically scale back new spending, the Senate voted Tuesday for a stripped-down economic assistance bill that now omits a proposal supported by the White House and passed by the House of Representatives that would have extended concurrent receipt of both benefits to almost 500,000 medically retired veterans who served less than 20 years in uniform.

House Democrats have talked about trying to restore some of the dropped items, but no firm plans were announced. The House bill had included a temporary change in law that would have increased pay for some people receiving medical retirement pay by eliminating an offset in the retired pay for those who also receive VA disability compensation.

The change would have started on Jan. 1 for those with a disability rated by VA at 90 percent or more, and on Oct. 1, 2011, for those with disabilities rated at least 70 percent. The offset would have resumed on Oct. 1, 2012. The temporary nature of the proposed change was the result of an agreement to try to limit costs, with Democratic leaders hoping they could find money for a permanent and larger plan over the next two years.

The Obama administration wanted a permanent change. The 2011 federal budget proposed a five-year plan in which all medically retired veterans would have the offset eliminated by 2016. It also called for the elimination of the offset that still applies to some disabled retirees with low-rated disabilities that are not combat-related.
 
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Time to Support Department of Defense Program Funding on July 21, 2010

E-mail your Members of Congress in support of full funding for the Department of Defense Parkinson's research program. Washington needs to hear your support for $55 million in funding for the Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Parkinson's Research (NETPR) program as Members of Congress will soon begin drafting appropriations bills.

NETPR funds innovative research to maintain and improve the health of our military and to find better treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease. Why is NETPR funding so important?

•NETPR is the only Parkinson's-specific grant program in the federal government.


•NETPR is a national peer-reviewed grant program designed to help protect our military personnel and improve the treatment of Parkinson's disease.


•The program tries to better understand how potential causes, like head trauma or chemical exposures, trigger the incidence of Parkinson's disease in order to prevent, treat, or cure the disease in future generations of soldiers and civilians.

Please e-mail your Members of Congress today in support of funding for Parkinson's research at the Department of Defense!
 
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How Do I Really Make An Impact? on July 21, 2010

Dear AADE Members and Supporters,

The best way to make an impact with your legislators is to be active, be often and be personal!

In your letter take the time to add a personal sentence to describe your own diabetes education program, the patients you serve or why you feel S. 3211will help increase access to care for the many people in your area who desperately need to learn how to control their diabetes.

Be sure and ask your Member to "Co-sponsor" S. 3211. Do not simply ask for their "support" by itself; you will likely get a form letter in response.

You are already aware that Diabetes Self-Management Training (DSMT) plays an essential role in the management of diabetes and is integral to the medical plan of people with diabetes.

You already understand that DSMT serves as the first line of defense in preventing costly and debilitating conditions, including cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, blindness and lower limb amputations. It also helps prevent emergency room visits related to acute complications such as low blood sugar reactions and acute consequences of extremely high blood sugars.

Now take the time to make your Senators aware and understand.

Take action now and lets get all Certified Diabetes Educators recognized as Medicare providers of diabetes outpatient self-management training services like they deserve.

Thank you,

AADE Advocacy

If you have any questions or feedback please contact James Specker, Advocacy Specialist at AADE jspecker@aadenet.org
 
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Afghanistan: Don't Escalate, Remediate on July 16, 2010

Rep. Barbara Lee will forever be remembered as the lone member of Congress to urge restraint in the US response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Lee went on to cast the only vote against the resolution that has sent thousands of Americans and countless civilians to their graves in Afghanistan. See Lee's floor speech.

Lee made that heartfelt plea over eight years ago.

Since then, thousands of our best and brightest have made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan, thousands more have suffered terrible injuries, millions of innocent civilians have lost their livelihoods, and many thousands have lost their lives. And while it is true that there have been no more terrorist attacks on US soil, the incidence of terrorist attacks on our allies have increased.

The terrible human cost is underscored by the billions of dollars being spent to win a war that cannot be won, while domestic policies are threatened due to lack of funding.

The US war in Afghanistan is destined to fail. No invading force has ever conquered the country. Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires.

Ask your member of Congress to join Barbara Lee as a co-sponsor of HR 3699, which prohibits any increase in the number of members of the United States Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan.
 
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HR 3787 Provides Veterans Status for "Gray-Area" Retirees on July 13, 2010

Give Gray Area Reservists Veterans Status

HR 3787, sponsored by Rep. Tim Walz provides "veterans status" for members of the Reserve Component that served twenty years or more in the Guard or Reserve and thereby are considered military retirees but due to current criteria not eligible for veterans status. These so-called "gray-area retirees" who are provided military retired pay, and TRICARE at age 60 are not veterans under the law unless they have been activated under federal orders. FRA believes that all who served twenty or more years in the Guard or Reserves should be given veterans status. Please use the Action Center to contact your US Representative on this important issue.

Read about this bill
 
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Contact Both of Your Senators Today on July 12, 2010

Urge Senate to pass S. 1450: Gold Star Parents Bill

The American Legion National Commander Clarence Hill sent a letter last week to members of the Senate, expressing support for legislation that would expand access to State Veterans' Homes to parents who have had at least one son or daughter die while serving in the Armed Forces. Known as "Gold Star parents," these men and women currently may receive care in veterans' homes only if they have lost all of their children in service to the country.

Now we need your help urging members of the Senate to pass this legislation. The Senate bill, S. 1450, sponsored by Sen. John Ensign, (NV), was referred to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in July 2009. Its companion bill in the House, H.R. 4505, passed by a unanimous vote of 420-0 on June 30 of this year. We want to see S. 1450 passed by the Senate before the August recess.

It is now time for the nation to recognize the unrealistic expectation of personal sacrifice to gain this benefit. We firmly believe a commitment is made not only by and to service members, but also to family members who must say goodbye to their loved ones who head into combat to protect the freedoms of our nation. Offering care and comfort to the parents of fallen service members is the least this country can do to honor the sacrifices made.

State veterans' homes were created following the Civil War and still play a critical role in providing care for thousands of veterans and their spouses, dependents, and Gold Star parents. Currently there are 137 state veterans' homes in all 50 States and Puerto Rico that provide hospital and skilled nursing care to approximately 28,500 veterans and dependents. State veterans' homes are owned and operated by the state, but the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) subsidizes their operations by paying an annually-adjusted rate per day for each veteran in the home. States must still prioritize veterans above spouses, dependents, and Gold Star parents.

Please contact both of your senators and request they become cosponsors of S. 1450 today. Encourage them to push for immediate floor action to assure passage of this legislation. Encourage fellow veterans, family and friends to voice their support as well.

To find your senators' phone number, you may use our searchable online congressional directory (Click Here) or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 800-828-0498 or 877-762-8762 and ask for your senator's office. Remember telephone calls are usually taken by a staff member, not the member of Congress. Ask to speak with the aide who handles the issue about which you wish to comment.

After identifying yourself, tell the aide you would like to leave a brief message, such as: "Please tell Senator (Name) that I support S. 1450." You will also want to state reasons for your support of the bill. You can also request that one office transfer you to the next office. Most staff members are happy to do so.
 
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Tell Congress to Pass Supplemental Funding Bill on July 9, 2010

Provides Needed Funding for Defense in Iraq, Afghanistan

On July 1 the House approved legislation that provides additional funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately they also added $23 billion more in unrelated domestic funding that imperils similar approval by the Senate.

With Congress in recess, that won't happen until they return in mid July. Meanwhile our troops need the money now.

DoD leaders warned Congress what would happen if they did not make the additional funding available by Independence Day. In mid June Defense Secretary Robert Gates told senators the Pentagon will have to do "stupid things" if Congress doesn't approve the supplemental spending request by July 4. This includes diverting funds and curtailing defense operations.

Exactly when DoD will have to begin redirecting day-to-day funds to support combat operations is unknown, but if we take the words of Secretary Gates to heart, it is likely to begin soon.

As Congress uses critical defense funds as leverage for their political tug-a-war, our troops face real-life combat in a life and death situation.

Congress needs to act, we cannot allow this situation to linger. Tell them to pass a clean war funding measure without further delay.
 
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NEW ALERT - Tell the House To Pass H.R. 4899, the Supplemental Funding Bill on July 2, 2010

Stop the Delay of Critical Wartime Funding

On June 24 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would try to pass H.R. 4899, the supplemental spending bill for the wars in Iraq the measure before the July recess. The Senate approved the bill in late May.

DoD concerns about the timing of this important funding are mounting. Passage is necessary to provide $33 billion to cover the cost of 30,000 additional troops being phased into action in Afghanistan.

At a recent hearing before the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told senators the Pentagon will have to do "stupid things" if Congress doesn't approve the supplemental spending request by July 4. The Secretary told Committee members if the measure is not passed by that date "we will have to begin planning to curtail defense operations and such planning is disruptive, can be costly - especially in a time of war.

Within the House of Representatives there is a rising volume of criticisms coming from the concession coalition which disapproves of American involvement in Afghanistan. The emboldened critics may make the timing of passage more difficult.

Without serious congressional attention to this supplemental, DoD could reach a point in August where money in the base budget runs out, and furloughs for civilian employees and pay for active duty military people would be in jeopardy.

NAUS will continue to press House leadership to follow the Secretary's advice and take action on the bill. You can bolster our efforts by contacting your representative and urge them to pass this important legislation immediately.
 
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