Murray, Fellow Senators Call on VA to Stop Dragging its Feet in Getting Family Caregivers Critical Benefits

Because of VA inaction, family members of seriously injured veterans who have had to leave their jobs and make tremendous sacrifices are going without training, counseling, and financial benefits

(Washington, D.C.) – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, along with 17 Senators from both sides of the aisle, wrote to Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jack Lew, to urge the Administration to carry out the law and begin providing supportive services to caregivers of wounded veterans. The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus READ MORE »

BACHMANN BACKS OFF PAY CUTS FOR DISABLED VETS

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., sought Friday to quell a controversy over her budget-cutting plans, dropping a proposal that would have cut compensation for some disabled veterans by $12,000 a year or more.

Bachmann, who heads the tea party caucus in the House of Representatives, said she remains dedicated to cutting federal spending, and has not backed off the idea of freezing veterans health care funding.

But her list of ways to cut $400 billion from the federal budget no longer READ MORE »

UNEMPLOYMENT FOR YOUNG VETS JUMPS TO 15 PERCENT

The unemployment rate for veterans took an unexpected jump in January — even as the overall unemployment rate fell.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the national unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage point, to a new level of 9.0, but the rate for veterans climbed to 9.9 percent, up from 8.3 percent the previous month.

For Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, the unemployment rate for January was 15.2 percent. This is a sharp increase from 9.4 percent in November and 11.7 percent in December, a clear trend of a worsening job market for younger READ MORE »

BACHMANN PLAN WOULD CUT VETERANS BENEFITS

Tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has unveiled a plan for cutting $400 billion in federal spending that includes freezing Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans’ disability benefits.

Her proposed VA budget cuts would account for $4.5 billion of the savings included in the plan, posted on her official House of Representatives website.

Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said cutting veterans’ health care spending is an ill-advised move at a time when the number of veterans continues to grow as troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan. Sullivan said he finds it difficult to see how VA could freeze health READ MORE »

GUARD, RESERVE SUICIDE RATE SEES BIG SPIKE

Army officials continue to struggle to figure out why soldiers — especially the service’s citizen soldiers — keep committing suicide in record numbers, as 2010 was the sixth consecutive year the Army’s suicide rate increased.

Despite the rise, there was some progress: The active-duty suicide rate dropped slightly, but the number of suicides in the Guard and Reserve increased sharply.

In 2010, the number of suicides increased by 59, from 242 to 301, an increase of 24.4 percent. Almost twice as many READ MORE »

RETREAT FOR FEMALE VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS

Coming Home Project

WHEN: February 10, 2011 - February 13, 2011

LOCATION: Oceanside, CA

APPLICATION: Female Veteran and Service Member Retreat Application Form

DETAILS:

During this four-day retreat we will focus on healing, connecting, & finding our strengths. READ MORE »

STUDY: DEPLOYED GI’S BENEFITED FROM UPFRONT HELP

A battlefield study conducted by the Army on 20,000 soldiers during the troop surge in Iraq shows that more aggressive efforts to question and counsel GIs about their mental health reduce by nearly 80 percent the number who develop behavioral health illnesses during combat.

The results of the study, to be published Tuesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, also show that 54 percent fewer soldiers contemplated suicide and that the number who needed to be sent home from Iraq with mental health problems dropped by nearly 70 percent. READ MORE »

UNEMPLOYMENT JUMPS IN DECEMBER FOR YOUNG VETS

Labor Department employment statistics released Friday show that young veterans continue to have serious and growing problems finding work in a tight job market, while older veterans are doing better than the general population.

The Jan. 7 release of December data shows the national unemployment rate fell slightly, from 9.8 percent in November to 9.4 percent in December, and that the unemployment rate for all veterans over the age of 18 remained steady, at 8.3 percent. READ MORE »

SEN. RELEASES VA REPORT ON FEMALE VETS

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY/AP) – A new study says female military members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to be diagnosed with mental-health conditions than their male counterparts. But men are more likely to be suffering specifically from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

The Veterans Administration’s Office of Inspector General report, released Monday by U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, also found that women are much more likely to have a harder time transitioning to civilian life after combat service than READ MORE »

HOLLY PETRAEUS TO LEAD OFFICE OF SERVICEMEMBER AFFAIRS

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2011 – The wife of the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan will head up an office devoted to strengthening consumer financial protection for service members and their families, an official announced today.

In a White House blog, Elizabeth Warren, assistant to the president and special advisor to the secretary of the treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, formally welcomed Holly Petraeus, wife of Army Gen. David H.

Petraeus, to the bureau’s implementation team, where she’ll direct efforts to establish an Office of Servicemember Affairs. READ MORE »