Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 10-23-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Obama Signs Advance VA Funding Bill. 
2. VA, Other Agencies Thanked For Improving Service Delivery To Certain Wounded Vets. 
3. Three Illnesses On Revised List Of Possible Agent Orange Service-Connected Diseases. 
4. Grant To Pay For $32 Million Expansion Of Calverton National Cemetery. 
5. Odierno Praises Shinseki. 
6. VA Doctors, Nurses Meet With Staff From Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. 
7. Subcommittee Approves Bill That Would Allow Parents To Be Buried With Deceased Vets. 
8. Vietnam Vet Concerned About Lack Of H1N1 Vaccine At Marion VA. 
9. New VA Clinic Opens In Illinois. 
10. Companies In California Pursue VA Facility. 

1.      Obama Signs Advance VA Funding Bill.  The AP (10/23) reports, "President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a measure designed to keep funding for veterans’ medical care steady amid future budget negotiations. Noting the Veterans Affairs Department is providing care for veterans without a Congress-approved budget right now," the President "said the new law would guarantee timely and predictable funding by laying out the VA budget ahead of schedule." The AP adds that Obama "said the funding stability will help veterans receive the care they deserve." A similar story appears as the lead item in the Chicago Tribune‘s (10/23) "Nation" column.
      The Air Force Times (10/23) says, "Veterans advocacy groups saw several years of work come to fruition Thursday" when Obama "signed into law" the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which "provides funding" for the VA "one year in advance." Paul Rieckhoff, "executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said the new law would ‘put an end to the rationing of care for our country’s veterans.’ With this legislation, politics can no longer stand in the way of VA funding, and VA Secretary [Eric] Shinseki is more effectively set up for success,’ Rieckhoff said."
      According to the Honolulu Advertiser (10/23, Yaukey), the bill by US Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) is "considered a necessary first step for a raft of reforms in the works" for the VA. Obama, "who co-sponsored the bill with Akaka when he was senator, called it long overdue." The Washington Post‘s (10/22, Shear) "44" blog also noted that Obama co-sponsored the bill while the Aberdeen (SD) American News (10/22) said US Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) was another co-sponsor.
      The Baltimore Sun (10/23, Robinson) says Obama "thanked Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown on Thursday for his service in Iraq during the White House signing of a bill to ensure health care for veterans." After noting that Brown "was co-chairman of the Veterans Affairs Agency Review Team for the Obama-Biden transition," the Sun reports that the "bill, Obama said, represents the largest percentage increase in the VA budget in more than 30 years." Brown, meanwhile, "said he was excited to have been invited to the bill signing and pleased to see Obama come through on a campaign promise to veterans."
      ABC News‘ (10/22, Phelps) "Political Punch" blog also covered this story, as did MSNBC‘s (10/22, Murray) "First Read" blog, which pointed out that in an "East Room signing ceremony, Obama said, ‘This is common-sense reform’" that "ensures…veterans’ health care will no longer be held hostage to the annual budget battles in Washington."
       

Duckworth Touts Obama’s Veterans Care Agenda.  The Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot (10/23, Armstrong) reports, "Speaking to a room full of service members Thursday" in Virginia Beach, VA Assistant Secretary L. Tammy
Duckworth, the "keynote speaker at the annual convention" of the Fleet Reserve Association, "shared her own story as a wounded Iraq veteran as well as the VA’s plans to improve services to vets." The Virginian-Pilot continues, "With the largest one-year increase in the VA budget in more than three decades, Duckworth said, President Barack Obama has made it clear that serving the nation’s veterans is a high priority." Tasks "on Obama’s agenda include: increasing funding" for the VA, "switching to electronic medical records," and "investing in better technology, services and benefits for more efficient" healthcare. 

2.      VA, Other Agencies Thanked For Improving Service Delivery To Certain Wounded Vets.  The Weakley County (TN) Press (10/23) reports US Rep. John Tanner (D-TN), "chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee," recently "joined with colleagues in thanking Federal agencies for improving service to wounded warriors who are eligible for Social Security disability benefits. These improvements" by the Social Security Administration (SSA), Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs "were cited in a…report released" this month "by the Government Accountability Office (GAO)." The Press adds that Tanner and US Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), who serves on the same subcommittee as Tanner, "joined colleagues from other House subcommittees to urge Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue to promptly carry out GAO’s further recommendations. ‘Again, we commend you on the success of your efforts to improve service delivery for wounded warriors who may be eligible for Social Security or SSI disability benefits, and look forward to working with you to ensure that they are fully informed about these benefits,’ they wrote in letters to the agencies." 

3.      Three Illnesses On Revised List Of Possible Agent Orange Service-Connected Diseases.  In continuing coverage, the St. Augustine (FL) Record (10/23) reports, "Parkinson’s disease and two other illnesses are on" the Department of Veterans Affairs’ "revised list of possible Agent Orange service-connected diseases. Relying on an independent study by the Institute of Medicine, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has established a service connection for Vietnam veterans with three specific illnesses based on the evidence of an association with the herbicides referred to as Agent Orange." Shinseki’s "decision brings to 15 the number of presumed illnesses recognized" by the VA. The Record points out that Shinseki commented on his decision, saying the VA "must do better reviews of illnesses that may be connected to service, and we will." North Carolina’s The Robesonian (10/23) also takes note of Shinseki’s decision, as did the last item in Megan Eckstein’s "Military Intelligence" column for the Frederick (MD) News-Post‘s (10/22).
       

Lawmaker Vows To Get Agent Orange Coverage For Ship-Based Vietnam Vets.  The WNYW-TV New York, NY (10/22, Brennan) website said that if a ground-based Vietnam vet gets "sick from exposure to Agent Orange," the VA "will pay for health coverage. But for veterans who were on ships, working on the planes that flew through the affected areas, it’s a different story." However, US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) "has vowed to pass legislation to change the loophole that denies the coverage." She also "has said some 13,000 people are affected in New York alone, and some 800,000 nationwide." 

4.      Grant To Pay For $32 Million Expansion Of Calverton National Cemetery.  The Riverhead (NY) News-Review (10/22, Parpan, Williams) said the "largest national cemetery is getting even bigger." On Monday, ground "was broken…on a $32 million expansion and improvement project at Calverton National Cemetery." The expansion, "which will be paid for through" a Federal "grant, features the development of approximately 89 acres in the northern section of the 1,050-acre cemetery property." The project, "due to be completed sometime in the fall of 2011, calls for 33,000 preplaced crypts and space for almost 6,000 cremation niches and in-ground sites. ‘It is a shrine that deserves the highest possible care that it can possibly receive,’" said "Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), who spoke at a ceremony at the site Monday."
      New York’s Times Beacon Record (10/22), which published a similar story, reported, "’We are pleased to continue to develop this national shrine,’ said VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. ‘VA is committed to providing the best possible service to the veterans of Long Island and greater New York City by developing new burial areas and improving existing facilities at Calverton National Cemetery.’"  

5.      Odierno Praises Shinseki.  In a profile of "Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of US forces in Iraq," US News & World Report (10/23, Mulrine) notes that Odierno says he has learned about leadership from a number of people, including Gen. Eric Shinseki, who "set an example for ‘compassion for soldiers and for standing up for what you believe is right.’" 
 

6.      VA Doctors, Nurses Meet With Staff From Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.  Stars And Stripes (10/23, Robbins) reports, "As chief of rehabilitation medicine at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Tampa, Fla., Dr. Steven Scott spends anywhere from a few months to a few years with patients recovering from battlefield trauma," but he "had never seen what his patients experience when they are evacuated from the battlefield until a frigid morning in Landstuhl last week." Scott "was among several doctors and nurses" from four VA hospitals in Landstuhl, Germany. While there, Scott and the other VA personnel "met with staff" from the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center "to find ways to improve communication." According to Stars And Stripes, the Landstuhl facility is the US Army’s "way station for troops injured in war." 

7.      Subcommittee Approves Bill That Would Allow Parents To Be Buried With Deceased Vets.  The Mansfield (MA) News (10/23) reports, "The Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee voted Wednesday, Oct. 21 in favor of legislation that would allow parents of certain deceased veterans to be buried with their loved ones" in US "military cemeteries. The bill, the Corey Shea Act, was introduced earlier this year" by US Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) "in response to a request made by Denise Anderson of Mansfield, whose son Army Specialist Corey Shea was killed in Mosul, Iraq during November 2008." The News adds, "According to current law, only spouses or minor children of deceased veterans may be buried in the same plot as their loved ones in national military cemeteries, unless special permission is granted by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs." That agency "denied the request of Shea’s mother, Denise Anderson, to be allowed to be buried with her son," so she "asked Frank" for help. The Attleboro (MA) Sun Chronicle (10/23) noted that the legislation will "next come before the full Veterans Committee for a vote." The WTKR-TV Norfolk, VA (10/22) website also covered this story.  

8.      Vietnam Vet Concerned About Lack Of H1N1 Vaccine At Marion VA.  On its website, WSIL-TV Carterville, IL (10/22, Gartner) reported, "Distribution of the H1N1 vaccine has been slow going across the nation. Here in our region only a handful of county health departments have the vaccine so far," but "it’s not just county health departments waiting for the vaccine." One Vietnam veteran "visited the Marion VA for his shot and discovered they hadn’t gotten the vaccine either," and he "wants to know why there’s a hold up. ‘Of all the things that’s happened to me in my life — this is the thing that has worried me the most,’" said Jerry Wilson, 60, who was diagnosed in 1980 "with a diminished immune system, likely due to his service in Vietnam." WSIL noted that officials "with the Marion VA say they did place an order with the Illinois Department of Public Health."
  

9.      New VA Clinic Opens In Illinois.  Illinois’ Journal Gazette (10/22, Meeker) reported, "The Veterans Health Administration outpatient clinic is an answer to a prayer for Kenneth Ducker, an Air Force veteran from Mattoon. ‘I’d been traveling to Marion before, so a clinic here saves 160 miles of driving.’" The "Mattoon medical facility — officially dubbed the Mattoon Community Based Outpatient Clinic by the VHA and located at 501 Lake Land Blvd. — opened Wednesday morning with 150 veterans already registered as patients." The Decatur (IL) Herald & Review (10/22) ran the same story. 

10.    Companies In California Pursue VA Facility.  The Stockton (CA) Record (10/22, Reid) reported, "A Stockton development company is proposing its midtown property" for a US Department of Veterans Affairs "medical facility that will be located somewhere in San Joaquin County." The Grupe Commercial Co., which "is suggesting roughly 20 acres on the northwest corner" of University Park, "believes locating the clinic complex, with its 900 jobs, on its property would strengthen Stockton’s redevelopment efforts," but "Arnaiz Development Co. of Stockton is also pursuing the project…at a different site: a 56-acre lot in French Camp."