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Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA. Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking? Follow us on Twitter @IAVAPressRoom or subscribe to receive the brief in your inbox each morning at www.iava.org/dailynewsbrief.

MUST READS

1) VA chief confident Congress will fund effort to streamline claims processing

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said in a speech in Colorado that he is confident Congress will provide the money needed to streamline processing systems that led to a backlog of disability claims. Click here to read more about the “Red Tape” obstacles facing veterans.

2) U.S. troops train for both combat and conversation

About 4,000 members of Fort Carson's 1st Brigade Combat Team and supporting units who will deploy to Afghanistan this summer. They're practicing counterinsurgency tactics, cultivating trust and cooperation with the Afghan people at the same time they wage war on the insurgents.

3) Military looks toward long offensive in Kandahar

The U.S. military this summer is looking toward a lengthy offensive in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar. The two-month campaign, expected to begin in June, also will test President Obama's bet that tens of thousands more troops can define the outcome of the war.

AFGHANISTAN

NATO says a helicopter with the international force has crashed in southern Afghanistan.

Overall, 53 percent of those polled by the Washington Post approve of the way President Obama is dealing with Afghanistan; 35 percent disapprove. Among independents, exactly half give the president positive marks.

Reuters dissects how President Obama’s administration kept the secret visit to Afghanistan quiet.

IRAQ

The top U.S. envoy to Iraq said Sunday that the results of the recent Iraqi national election mark a turning point for democracy there, but he warned that challenges remain.

A controversial commission charged with removing loyalists to the outlawed Baath Party from government positions announced Monday that it intended to contest the results of the March 7 election because six of the winning candidates were purged on the eve of the election.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

The father of a Marine killed in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters was ordered to pay the protesters’ appeal costs, his lawyers said Monday

Twenty-four times per year on military bases across the nation, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) provides support to families coping with the death of a loved one in war through grief counseling and story sharing.

Three U.S. warships and one Military Sealift Command salvage ship are on station off the Korean peninsula helping with search and rescue efforts after a South Korean patrol ship sank on Friday.

There are more than 1,700 military personnel from the Vietnam War still considered missing in action, but on Monday the remains of Air Force Maj. Curtis Daniel Miller, missing in action since 1972, were finally laid to rest.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

The independent Commission on Wartime Contracting wants to know whether American contractors in Iraq are adequately reducing the number of employees in the country as U.S. troops are withdrawn.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate is not in session

Reconvenes at 2 p.m. on Monday, April 12

SENATE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No issues today

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

April 5, 2010 Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Field Hearing on services available to Veterans in Ohio, especially Appalachia 11:15 a.m.; Scottish Rite Auditorium, Cambridge OH Veterans 9:30 a.m.

THE HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES 



The House is not in session

Reconvenes at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 13

HOUSE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST 



No issues today

FUTURE HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST 



April 15, 2010 House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Hearing: Status of Veterans Employment 1:00 p.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
            

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