Military

Says All Facility Reviews Must Be Made Public

October 16, 2009 -- MEDIA, PA -- Congressman Joe Sestak (PA-07) submitted a bill to require the Department of Veterans Affairs to publish and make publicly available inspections of Veterans Administration (VA) facilities within 30 days after the completion of a review.    » read more »

Shares stories of local veterans, urges action

10/16/09 -- Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Ron Klein (FL-22) submitted testimony to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs describing the state of the new GI Bill in South Florida in order to bring attention to the experiences of local veterans.    » read more »

Washington, DC – Earlier this week Congressman Rob Andrews announced that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have reached agreement on the conference report to H.R. 2647, the Fiscal Year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. This legislation authorizes $550.2 billion in budget authority for the Department of Defense (DOD) and the national security programs of the Department of Energy (DOE). The bill also authorizes $130 billion to support overseas contingency operations during fiscal year 2010.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic and Republican Members of Congress joined representatives from Veterans Service Organizations for a photo opportunity on the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act this afternoon in the Speaker’s Office. The legislation, a top priority for Veterans Service Organizations and Congress, authorizes appropriations for Veterans Affairs Department medical care programs one year in advance of the start of each fiscal year, beginning in 2011.

At the event, Speaker Pelosi signed the legislation, which will now be sent to President Obama for his signature. Below are the Speaker’s remarks:    » read more »

Momentum Builds for Repeal as the Military Readiness Enhancement Act Secures 180th Cosponsorship

15 October 2009 -- (Washington, DC)- Today, Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA, 8th District) and Congressman Tim Walz (D-MN, 1st District) announced the 180th cosponsorship of H.R. 1283, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act.    » read more »

Measure Allows Congress Two-Year Budget Authority to Prevent Funding Lapses

October 15, 2009 -- Washington, DC– With the support of Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), the Senate approved a bill on Tuesday evening to secure timely funding for veterans’ health care delivered through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Beginning in fiscal year 2011, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009 allows Congress two-year budget authority to prevent lapses in funding for services.

In 19 of the past 22 fiscal years, final VA appropriations have been enacted several months late and have frequently required supplemental appropriations to sustain VA health care.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2009 – The Veterans Affairs Department continues its efforts to provide the best support possible to the nation’s military veterans, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki told a House committee here today.

“We have been busy putting into place the foundation for our pursuit of the president’s two goals for this department: transform VA into a 21st-century organization, and ensure that we provide timely access to benefits and high quality care to our veterans over their lifetimes -- from the day they first take their oaths of allegiance until the day they are laid to rest,” Shinseki said in his written statement provided to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2009 – Defense Department officials have been straightforward about the number of U.S. troops flowing into Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said here today.

As deliberations on the way forward in Afghanistan continue at the White House, Morrell addressed media reports that implied the department was sending an extra 13,000 servicemembers to Afghanistan as enablers for added combat forces.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will kick off a whirlwind trip this weekend that will begin with a change of command ceremony at U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, followed by visits to South Korea, Japan and a NATO defense ministers conference in Slovakia.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell announced the around-the-world trip during today's Pentagon media briefing.

Gates is slated to preside at the Oct. 19 Pacom change of command ceremony at Camp H.M. Smith in Honolulu, where Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating will pass the helm of the oldest and largest U.S. combatant command to Navy Adm. Robert Willard.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- CONTRACTS

NAVY    » read more »

10/14/2009 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Congress has reached agreement on a $680.2 billion National Defense Authorization Bill for fiscal 2010.

The bill authorizes a 3.4 percent military pay increase and full funding for the Defense Health Program, and it caps F-22 Raptor production at 187 aircraft. For civilian workers, it ends the National Security Personnel System. It includes a base budget of $550.2 billion and $130 billion for overseas contingency operations.

Congress released the conference report Oct. 7. The full Senate and House must pass the conference report before the bill goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 8) — The Army today released suicide data for the month of September. Among active-duty Soldiers, there were seven potential suicides. One has been confirmed as a suicide, and six are pending determination of the manner of death. For August, the Army reported 11 potential suicides among active-duty Soldiers. Since the release of that report, four have been confirmed as suicides and seven remain under investigation.

There were 117 reported active-duty Army suicides from January 2009 through September 2009. Of those, 81 have been confirmed, and 36 are pending determination of manner of death. For the same period in 2008, there were 103 suicides among active-duty Soldiers.    » read more »

Call for Stricter Guidelines

14 October 2009 -- In October 2006, the military affairs journal Jane's Intelligence Weekly reported that U.S. Army officials detected a “sudden decline” in the effectiveness of some its spy satellites throughout the fall as they passed over China.

Before receiving an explanation from the Chinese military, initial fears were that the country had intentionally aimed ground-based lasers at the U.S. satellites to temporally disrupt their ability to collect information, or worse, materially damage them.

Was this a hostile attempt by the Chinese to test its laser anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons, obstructing U.S. military reconnaissance missions in Low Earth Orbit?    » read more »

10/14/09 -- Washington, DC – Just days after meeting with local veterans who have been struggling to obtain benefits under the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, Congressman Glenn Nye (VA-02) is asking for answers from Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.

At a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning, Secretary Shinseki told Congressman Nye and others that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had anticipated that there would be delays in administering the tuition benefit program, but that they had underestimated the magnitude of the problem.    » read more »

Historic Bill will Provide Advanced Appropriations for the VA

October 14, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Legislation co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Hall (D-Dover) that will provide advanced appropriations for veterans' health care for the first time in history is on its way to being signed into law by President Obama. H.R. 1016, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, provides funding one year in advance for veterans medical programs.

The legislation, which Congressman Hall is an original co-sponsor of, passed the House in July. Yesterday, the Senate passed a final version of the legislation. Historically, funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been late in reaching its many critical programs.    » read more »