Forward Observer
Forward Observer: Blue Water Navy Bill Is About Sunk for This Year
To add to the sorry saga of inaction by our senators, here is the latest as reported in the Stars and Stripes: ### As of 14 December 2018
Forward Observer
Forward Observer: Senate Continues to Stall on Blue Water Navy Act Passage
As an update, the Senate continues to stall since we have last written on the bill. From the VFW, which emphasizes the importance of acting now in whatever way you can:
“During the Vietnam War, veterans who served in the offshore waters of Vietnam drank, bathed in, and cooked with water contaminated by Agent Orange. They are now arbitrarily and unjustly denied benefits for illnesses associated (more…)
Forward Observer
Forward Observer: Blue Water Navy Bill (HR 299) About to Sink?
Photo, Army Times, 1969
As part of the continuing saga, we update you once again …
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) met last Tuesday (18 September) with the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Robert Wilkie, to persuade him to cease his and his department’s re-doubled efforts to scuttle H.R. 299, the Blue Water Navy Act, now in the Senate for consideration. (more…)
Forward Observer
Forward Observer: Will the Senate Have the Courage to Rise Above the Intransigence of the VA on the Blue Water Navy Issue?
The behavior of the Senate on the issue of the Blue Water Navy’s exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam Conflict has been less than noble — nor has it done its job. Over the decades, it has conveniently allowed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to lead it by the nose and to provide an excuse for inaction. (more…)
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit: Getting It Wrong on VA Healthcare — How Our Media Fails Us
[Editor’s Note: One of the more thorough, balanced and probative articles about the failure of the our national and local media regarding their reporting and conclusions on the state of VA healthcare in quite a while. Also provides some insights on the thinking of our Congress and Executive; and the Read more…
Forward Observer
Forward Observer: The VA Mission Act Is Enacted
We thought it would happen on Memorial Day. Instead, it happened on 6 June 2018 (D-Day). The President finally signed the VA MISSION Act of 2018 upon which we have previously reported .
According to the VFW’s Action Corps Weekly of 8 June, “ ‘The VA MISSION Act will help improve the care our veterans get at the VA while leveraging the capabilities of the private sector when needed. It will help recruit the best talent at the VA, which is what our veterans deserve, and it also extends caregiver benefits to every veteran who needs it,’ … The VA MISSION Act was the result of a bipartisan and bicameral effort led by Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Sen. Johnny Isakson, Ranking Member Sen. Jon Tester and House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Rep. Phil Roe, M.D.” (more…)
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit: Best Kind of Memorial Day News — VA Mission Act About to Be Signed
Honoring Those Who Gave Their Lives With Actions For The Living and Not Words
The VFW reports in its Action Corps Weekly of 25 May , as the other 27 veterans organizations which supported this action certainly will:
Forward Observer
Forward Observer: Hope Resurfaces for the Blue Water Navy Bill
Is there some good news on the horizon now that our legislators have found a way to pay for it? We are talking about H.R. 299 (Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017), which passed out of House Veterans Affairs Committee on 8 May. There is a long way to go, but in the past this bill has been killed in this committee. (more…)
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit — Veterans Choice Program about to be extended
S.544, a bill to amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to modify the termination date for the Veterans Choice Program, and for other purposes, headed to the President for signature on 7 April. This was relatively easy to do as the there was still $1 billion Read more…
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit — Commonwealth’s Major Veterans Organizations Unite on Legislative Goals for 2016
On 5 May 2016, the Pennsylvania War Veterans Council (PWVC), an important association of the major veterans service organizations in the commonwealth, agreed to its legislative goals for 2016-2017. They should not be overlooked by our Governor and General Assembly, as they are germane to improving the care of our veterans, including those of the most recent generations: (more…)