House Votes to Strengthen Work Study Program for Returning Veterans

Washington, D.C. – On July 13, 2009, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) announced that the House of Representatives voted to approve two measures concerning veterans.   

1)      H.R. 1037 – Pilot College Work Study Programs for Veterans Act of 2009 (Herseth Sandlin)

H.R. 1037 directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a five-year pilot project to test the feasibility and advisability of expanding the scope of qualifying veterans’ work-study activities and authorizes student veterans to participate in work-study positions in academic departments. 

Chairman Filner provided the following statement in support of H.R. 1037: “As a former university professor, I understand the financial hurdles of paying for a college education and strongly support all methods to make education more affordable for our veterans.  This legislation provides an additional avenue for a student veteran to help pay for college and places them on par with other students in the same financial situation.  Furthermore, these new work-study positions would provide student veterans with much needed job skills they can use in their professional career.”

2)      H.R. 402 – To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee, as the "William C. Tallent Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic". (Duncan)

H.R. 402 honors William C. Tallent, a veteran who served his country as an infantryman with the 28th Infantry Division in World War II.  In December 1944, he was captured and became a prisoner of war after being wounded and missing in action.  After four months of captivity, he was successful in escaping enemy hands.  He was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his bravery and service to our country.  The bill would designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee, as the “William C. Tallent Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic.”

Chairman Filner said, “Naming a VA facility after William C. Tallent is a proper honor for an honorable soldier.  While the story of his service in World War II reads like a Hollywood script, his life-long devotion to fellow veterans, humble demeanor, and career as a public servant make him the perfect candidate for the naming of the Veterans Outpatient Clinic in Knoxville.”