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What's
New This Week !
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Let the Meeting Begin!
As everyone is about to sit
them selves down to begin another NYSC meeting
our Sgt at Arms - Big Joe gives his famous prior
meeting speech: Clicking Here to listen.
We started out with the
passing of the amendment to our By-Laws for the
changing of the resident requirement for
District Directors where they do not have to
live in their respective districts to be
eligible for election.
Our guest speaker -
VVA National President John Rowan who talks about
Veterans Health Care, reaching out to those
Vietnam Vets who are not yet signed up with the
VA and more......
Click Here to listen to John's speech
which is about 23min long and is in .MP3 format. Depending
on your connection speed this may take a few
moments to load.
Gordon
Lane talks about his new project
information for Veterans and Those Who
Care: "Transitioning From the War Zone"
Coming home from the war zone is
great, and it should be a happy time for
all -
Click Here to listen to Gordon's
speech which is about 27 minutes long
and is also in .MP3 format. Depending on
your connection speed this may take a
few moments to load. Both
speeches are best listened to with
Windows Media player if you do not have
this program
Click Here to download the latest
program. |
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Eligible Veterans to receive one-time payment of $250.00 by June 30, 2009
VA Begins Stimulus Payments to
Veterans Recipients of Some VA Benefits Will
Receive $250
WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) has requested the Department of the
Treasury to make $250 payments to eligible
Veterans as part of President Obama's recovery
plan. The first payments were sent Monday, June
22. All payments will be distributed by June 30.
As part of the recovery plan, VA is making
one-time payments of $250 to eligible Veterans
and survivors to offset the effects of the
current economy. VA estimates $500 million in
payments will be made to approximately 1.9
million Veterans and eligible beneficiaries as
part of this measure.
To be eligible for the payment, VA beneficiaries
must have received VA's compensation, pension,
dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), or
spina bifida benefits at any time between
November 2008 and January 2009. Also,
beneficiaries must reside within the United
States, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana
Islands, American Samoa or the U.S. Virgin
Islands.
No application is necessary. VA used its
existing payment records to determine
eligibility for the $250 payment. Beneficiaries
will receive their payments the same way they
receive their monthly VA benefits -- either by
direct deposit or in the mail.
This payment is not countable in determining
eligibility for VA pension or Parents' DIC. The
law allows one $250 payment per person. The
payment is tax-free. VA beneficiaries who also
receive benefits from the Social Security
Administration or Railroad Retirement Board will
be paid through those agencies, and will
therefore not receive the payment from VA.
VA will spend more than $1.4 billion as part of
President Obama's economic recovery plan to
improve services to America's Veterans. VA's
Internet site - www.va.gov/recovery - provides
current information about VA's work to deliver
its portion of recovery act funds to benefit
Veterans.
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House votes 409-1 and pass H.R. 1016 Advanced Funding for VA Health Care
Washington, D.C. - On Tuesday, June 23, 2009, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 1016, landmark legislation to secure timely funding for veterans' health care delivered through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, announced passage of the bill that would authorize the 'advance appropriations' process. The bill provides Congress greater ability to develop appropriation bills that provide sufficient funding to meet the best estimate of anticipated demand for VA health care services in future years by allowing funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical accounts one year in advance.
Read More...
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House passes Woman Veterans Bill H.R. 1211 408-0
Washington, D.C. - On Tuesday,
June 23, 2009, Chairman of the House Committee
on Veterans' Affairs Bob Filner (D-CA) announced
that the House of Representatives passed H.R.
1211, a bill to expand and improve health care
services available to women veterans provided by
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act,
introduced by Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth
Sandlin (D-SD), addresses the needs of the 1.8
million women who have served in the military.
H.R. 1211 would especially focus on the health
care needs of those serving in Operation
Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The bill requires the VA to provide medical care
for newborn children of women veterans,
establish a pilot program for child care
services, and enhance programs available to
veterans suffering from military sexual trauma
and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Additionally, the VA would be required to
conduct a comprehensive study on barriers
encountered by women veterans when attempting to
access the VA health care system.
Read More...
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House passes disabled veterans bill
"The disabled veterans' tax has for decades
prevented retirees from receiving the full benefits they earned in military pay
and compensation," said Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who
sponsored the bill (HR 2990). "The one group of retirees that have endured great
hardship, but have been among the last to be embraced by reform, is the disabled
retirees with less than 20 years of service."
Many, he said, would have served a full military career but could not do so
because of their disabilities.
The measure, which passed 404-0, would:Expand disabled veterans' eligibility for
simultaneous military retirement and veterans' disability payments; Extend
eligibility for bonuses and allowances to military personnel, including Reserve
forces, health care professionals and nuclear officers, by a year; and Refigure
the retirement pay scale to reflect reservists' post-retirement service and
allow them to receive retired pay if they are performing non-regular,
post-retirement service. Under the rule governing floor consideration of the
fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill (HR 2647), Skelton's measure would be
added to the defense bill before the House votes on passage. |
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Agent Orange
