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 at @iavapressroom [1]!
MUST READS
(1) Inspections of VA clinics show mixed results [2]
According to a report leaked to the Associated Press, errors in colonoscopies and other minimally invasive procedures performed at VA facilities across the country may be more widespread than initially believed. Per a Veteran Affairs' inspector general report slated for release to the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on Tuesday, fewer than half of the 42 Veterans Affairs centers given a surprise inspection last month had proper training and guidelines in place for common endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopies - even after the agency learned that mistakes at three VA hospitals in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia may have exposed thousands of veterans to HIV and other diseases. Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., who will chair a hearing of VA officials on Tuesday, said the report issued a "damaging blow to the trust veterans place in the VA." The random inspections, conducted May 13-14, found only 43 percent of the centers have standard operating procedures in place and have properly trained their staffs for using endoscopic equipment. Click here [3] to watch the House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing at 10:30 am today.
(2) VA expands health care eligibility for 266,000 nondisabled [4]
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday it will open the doors of its health care system by October 2010 to an estimated 266,000 nondisabled veterans who earn more than the average wage in their communities. Previously, enrollment was denied to them because of a cost-savings move in 2003; however, thanks to more than $543 million in new funding this fiscal year the VA will be able to classify more veterans as "Priority 8." According to officials, the VA will determine eligibility using an exhaustive list of income thresholds based on where veterans live. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs committee, praised the move while calling on the VA to open healthcare to every veteran. "This must be just the beginning and not the end of the road to opening the VA to every veteran who serves," Murray said in a statement. In the first six months of 2008, just under 30,000 veterans applied for hardship benefits from the VA department, a temporary enrollment into the health care system. So far in 2009, more than 69,000 have asked for the same help. Click here [5]to visit the VA website and calculate your eligibility based on your zip code.
(3) In reversal, GOP balks at war funding [6]
The Hill reports this morning that House Republicans - in a reversal- are preparing to vote en bloc against the Obama Administration's $106 billion war supplemental bill. The House is expected to vote on a conference report for the supplemental war bill as early as today, while the Senate is expected to vote on a conference report later this week. At issue? The House initially passed a version of the bill on May 14 by a vote of 368-60, and all but nine Republicans backed the measure. However, the current version expected to hit the House floor today includes a $5 billion provision for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help aid nations affected by the global financial crisis. If passed, the war supplemental H.R. 2346 would provide back-pay [7] to thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were held under the military's stop-loss policy as well as allow transferability of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to the children of service members who died while on active-duty since 9/11. Read about IAVA's support for these provisions here [8].
(4) GI Bill Causes Glitch In D.C. [9]
The Washington Post ran a feature late Monday concerning the wide disparity in Post-9/11 GI Bill participation and levels of aid from Washington, D.C. based colleges and universities. Due to an unintended glitch, many veterans seeking to attend those institutions once the program goes into full effect on August 1st will face higher costs. Why? Because the city's only public institution, the University of the District of Columbia, is one of the least-expensive colleges in the country for local students, and its tuition is the basis for the VA reimbursement rate for private colleges in the District. In part due to the glitch and the strain of the recession on budgets, some of the schools including Howard University opted not to enroll in the program before the VA's deadline yesterday. Others including Gallaudet University and American University will limit participation to a few dozen veterans this year before developing their programs further. Interested in learning more about school rates and enrollment in the Post-9/11 GI Bill? Visit IAVA's website GIBill2008.org [10] to calculate your benefits.
AFGHANISTAN
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and 40 other candidates [11] begin their official campaigns for Afghanistan's top post Tuesday. The campaign period will close Aug. 18, two days before a nationwide vote. Chief among Karzai's challengers are former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. The campaign begins as the Taliban urge the country's 30 million people not to vote and threaten scattered attacks on voting registration centers throughout Afghanistan.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two senior defense officials said Monday the Pentagon is reconsidering a promise made last week to release a summary (and supporting video) from an investigation into air strikes which Afghan authorities believe killed dozens of civilians in Farah province [12] last month. On Monday, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the report is still under review, though officials acknowledged last week that the Air Force B-1 bomber tasked with the strike did not reconfirm its target before finally dropping a 2,000-pound bomb on a suspected Taliban hideout. Afghans claim 140 civilians were killed, while Americans maintain the number was about 30.
The Pentagon's reported hesistancy to release investigaton materials comes as British television broadcast a documentary Monday suggesting American attacked and killed dozens of Afghan villagers last August in Azizabad [13], western Afghanistan, based on false allegations raised in a blood feud with a neighboring community.
As U.S. troops shift from Iraq to Afghanistan, Congress is about to order new combat uniforms [14] for service members following complaints that camouflage suitable for Iraq is not working well in the mountainous environment along the Af-Pak border. In a report accompanying HR 2346, the 2009 supplemental appropriations act, lawmakers ordered the Defense Department today to "take immediate action" to provide combat uniforms with a new camouflage pattern. Costs of the uniforms would come from the $32.5 billion set aside in the $106 bill for operations and maintenance.
IRAQ
Gen. Rey Odierno [15], the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Monday that he remains "absolutely committed" to pulling back all combat troops from urban areas by the end of July as dictated by the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement. Earlier this year, Odierno expressed concern that the U.S. would have to keep combat troops in Mosul to maintain security. "I feel much more comfortable with the situation in Mosul now," Odierno said, citing declining violence and tension in the past several weeks.
In an interview with Le Monde on Tuesday, Iraqi President Nuri al-Maliki [16] said Iraq will not call on US forces to take part in combat operations after they pull out from urban centers in two weeks. Maliki said Baghdad would only call on US forces "for transporting our troops when we need them because we don't have any planes. That is why we are purchasing helicopters from France and the United States."
MILITARY AFFAIRS
An Iraq war veteran, Marine and author, Tyler Boudreau [17] kicked off a 3,200 bicycle journey across country on Monday to talk openly about the war in communities along the route and help Americans understand veterans transition home. Boudreau, who served in the infantry and took part in the first siege of Fallujah in 2004, is calling the trip "The Other Side" tour. Interested in following his itinerary across country? Click here [18].
INSIDE WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama announced late Monday in a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the White House that Italy will take three detainees [19] from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. The announcement came as U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco ruled for the first time Monday that convicted terrorist Jose Padilla [20] can sue a former Bush administration lawyer, John Yoo, for drafting the legal theories that led to his alleged torture. Padilla is an American citizen who was arrested in Chicago in 2002 and accused of conspiring with al-Qaida to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb." He was held in a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., for three years and eight months as an enemy combatant.
CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE
THE SENATE
The Senate will convene at TBA.
COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST
THE HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES
The House convenes at TBA.
COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST
IAVA IN THE NEWS
Outlet: Associated Press
Title: Recovery Unit Set Up Plan for Wounded Soldier Care [21]
Date: Monday, June 15th
Representative: Tom Tarantino
WHAT THE BLOGS ARE SAYING
Blog: Examiner.com
Title: Pit of Hell [22]
Date: Monday, June 15th
Representative: Paul Rieckhoff
Blog: Bloggers for Change
Title: From the Pit of Hell [23]
Date: Monday, June 15th
Representative: Paul Rieckhoff
Blog: OB Rag
Title: As Services Improve, Combat Veterans Need Our Attention Now More than Ever [24]
Date: Monday, June 15th
Representative: IAVA
Blog: Social Nerdia
Title: Interview: Craig Newmark on Craigslist’s Community, Transparency, and Controversies [25]
Date: Monday, June 15th
Representative: IAVA
Blog: Left of the Hill
Title: Gerry Connolly to Submit Helping Active Duty Deployed Act [26]
Date: Monday, June 15th
Representative: IAVA
Links:
[1] http://www.twitter.com/iavapressroom
[2] http://militarytimes.com/news/2009/06/ap_va_clinics_inspections_061509/
[3] http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?NewsID=417
[4] http://www.military.com/news/article/June-2009/changes-to-give-265000-vets-health-care.html
[5] http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/apps/enrollmentcalculator/
[6] http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/in-reversal-gop-balks-at-war-funding-2009-06-15.html
[7] http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_stoploss_fryscholarships_061209w/
[8] http://iava.org/blog/iava-urges-congress-compensate-troops-their-overtime
[9] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061402422.html?hpid=topnews
[10] http://www.gibill2008.org/
[11] http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gH6zTk0ZvJGljIu7bpEh3P2uECEwD98R66V81
[12] http://militarytimes.com/news/2009/06/ap_afghan_strike_061509/
[13] http://militarytimes.com/news/2009/06/ap_military_afghanistan_doc_061509/
[14] http://militarytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_afghanistan_uniforms_061509w/
[15] http://militarytimes.com/news/2009/06/ap_iraqodierno_061509/
[16] http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jX1Y4K3bE4JyurmlsZPNGN3sOL7w
[17] http://www.seattlepi.com/local/407242_vet16.html
[18] http://www.tylerboudreau.com/calendar/
[19] http://www.military.com/news/article/italy-to-take-3-guantanmao-detainees.html?wh=wh
[20] http://www.military.com/news/article/judge-terrorist-can-sue-over-torture-memos.html
[21] http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/state/recovery-unit-set-up-plan-for-wounded-soldier-care-664188.html
[22] http://www.examiner.com/x-10722-Orlando-Science-Policy-Examiner~y2009m6d15-Pit-of-Hell
[23] http://www.bloggersforchange.com/?p=16394
[24] http://obrag.org/?p=8560
[25] http://socialnerdia.com/index.php/2009/06/interview_craignewmark_craigslist/
[26] http://leftofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/06/gerry-connolly-to-submit-helping-active.html