LEGISLATIVE GOALS FOR
THE 110th CONGRESS,
2nd SESSION
Strong National Defense
Goal:
Ensure Congress and the President pursue adequate funding for the security of our Nation, the protection of our homeland, and the defense of our people as their highest duty.
Objective:
- Promote adequate funding of the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to ensure the security of our country, our citizens, and our military personnel stationed overseas.
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Uniformed Services
Health Care
Goal:
Ensure comprehensive, lifelong medical and dental
care for all Uniformed Service beneficiaries regardless of age,
status or location, as promised.
Objectives:
- Promote adequate funding of the Defense
Health Program Budget to provide access to the military health
care system for all
uniformed services beneficiaries.
• Protect the TRICARE Benefit
from unwarranted cost shifting to the beneficiary.
- TRICARE
Coverage
• Enhance the program to ensure sufficient
quality provider participation.
• Maintain DoD requirement to convey
benefit information to all Standard Beneficiaries
- Maintain a comprehensive
Uniform Pharmacy benefit.
• Stop or minimize any future
co-payment increases.
• Closely monitor the movement
of current TIER II (formulary)
drugs
to TIER III
(non-formulary).
• Closely monitor the movement
of current TIER II (formulary) drugs
to TIER III (non-formulary).
- Closely monitor DoD efforts to replace military health
care personnel with
civilians.
- Medicare
• Waive Medicare Part B late
enrollment penalties for ALL
TRICARE For Life Eligible beneficiaries.
• Ensure adequate reimbursement
to providers to ensure
access for
military retirees using their TFL benefit.
- Move full funding of the under-65
retiree
and retiree family member
health care from DoD to the entitlements portion
of the federal budget where
it
will no longer have to compete for
funding with other military accounts.
...................................................................... Veterans
Health Care
Goal:
Ensure adequate healthcare funding, so all eligible veterans
are provided comprehensive medical care in accordance with
established access standards
at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Objectives:
- Ensure adequate resources to provide quality
care and accessible medical services for veterans by providing
full funding through
modifications to the current appropriations
process and using mandatory funding or some other change in the process that
achieves the desired goal.
- Authorize Medicare subvention to allow VA to collect
and retain Medicare dollars for treatment of Medicare-eligible
VA patients.
- Enhance timely implementation of seamless transition
activities between VA and DoD with bi-directional, interoperable
electronic medical records, post-deployment
health assessments, electronic DD214s, and effective congressional oversight.
- Provide pharmaceutical benefit and make it available to all veterans.
- Pursue guaranteed funding for veterans health care.
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Veterans Disability Claims Process
Goal:
Ensure adequate funding for the timely and accurate processing of veterans claims for disability compensation.
Objectives:
- Ensure sufficient funding for hiring and training of qualified claims processing personnel and provide necessary up-to-date IT equipment and software.
- Significantly reduce claims backlog.
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Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay
Goal:
Provide FULL concurrent receipt to ALL active duty and reserve component disabled retirees regardless of disability rating or cause.
Objectives:
- Implement full concurrent receipt for
all service-connected disabled military retirees.
- Maintain the CRSC program to preserve the tax-free status of awards for combat wounded and injured.
- Provide concurrent receipt to all Chapter
61 retirees discharged from service prior
to 20 years due to service-connected disability.
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Postal Assistance
Goal:
Assist families with troops deployed overseas in sending letters and packages to their loved ones in combat or in hospital care due to combat.
Objectives:
- Establish a program giving combat zone service members and those in the hospital due to wounds incurred in combat, a monthly voucher they could give to anyone they choose, such as family members or loved ones.
- Allow our fighting men and women to receive more mail from their families and others back home to boost morale and lessen the financial burden on overseas mail.
- Engage the assistance of all Americans for strong support of our troops and recognition of the service our brave military provides so far from home.
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Survivor Benefit Plan
and Survivor Improvements
Goal:
Provide
for concurrent receipt of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
(DIC) and the Survivor Benefit Plan.
Objective:
- Eliminate offset between Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
and the Survivor Benefit Plan.
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Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act
Goal:
Identify, address and correct Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA) inequities.
Objectives:
- Continue discussions with DoD, regarding the urgent need to adequately brief all personnel on the USFSPA and it's possible implications to a military career.
- Work with Congress for hearings regarding the USFSPA prior to the markup of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act.
- Work to identify member or members of Congress to introduce meaningful legislation to address many of the problems, for all parties, that currently exist within the USFSPA.
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Quality of Life Activities
Goal:
Provide adequate funding for military Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) activities for military bases affected by re-basing of troops and dependents from overseas bases and increases in troop strength and dependents for bases affected by shifts mandated by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), to ensure continuation of these services and facilities for eligible personnel, including retirees.
Objectives:
- Provide funding to supplement income from post MWR activities to have these activities ready for arrival of additional personnel.
- Provide funding for additional post housing to accommodate arriving personnel.
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Funding for Retirement Services Activities
Goal:
Ensure adequate funding at Service level to continue and enhance the Retirement Services Program.
Objectives:
- Provide adequate funding for publication of Base Retiree Newsletters and mailings of announcement of retiree activities through a line item in the Service Budget.
- Mandate that local base commanders use the funds provided for Retiree Appreciation, Activitiy and Seminar Days and not divert such resources for other purposes.
Goal:
Tax relief for military retirees who are not on Medicare and TRICARE For Life.
Objective:
- Passage of "Premium Conversion" legislation to allow health insurance premiums and long-term care insurance to be deducted on a "pre-tax" basis before income is calculated for tax purposes, making insurance more affordable.
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Commissary and Exchange Benefits
Goal:
Improve and maintain the
commissary and
exchange benefits.
Objectives:
- Ensure full funding of the current
commissary system to insure the
benefit and preclude an increase in
the customer
surcharge.
- Stop any initiative that suggests
commissary privatization.
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Flag Protection
Goal:
Provide Congress the power to prohibit desecration of the flag of the United States.
Objectives:
- Strongly advocate for providing Congress the power to prohibit physical desecration of the American flag and return the decision to the people of the United States.
- Urge the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to approve a joint resolution.
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Montgomery GI Bill, Education for the Total Force
Goal:
Improve the Montgomery GI Bill.
Objectives:
- Upgrade Montgomery GI Bill to keep pace with the average cost of education through benchmark to average cost of four-year public college or university education.
- Provide enhanced GI Bill benefits to members of the National Guard and Reserves that matches educational benefits to service commitment.
- Place Guard and Reserve educational benefits into Title 38 from Title 10, so the value of these earned benefits can be modernized and treated with the equity they deserve.
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Merchant Marine
Goal:
Gain official recognition for members of the Merchang Marine for their invaluable service to and valiant sacrifice in the defense of America. Pass the Merchant Mariner Belated Thank You legislation.
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Senior Issues
Goal:
Correct the inequity of the Government Pension Offset/Windfall Elimination Provisions (GPO/WEP) of the Social Security Act.
Objective:
- Support legislation that strengthens and improves retirement benefits earned without reductions to annuities.
Goal:
Correct the inequity in the Cost of Living Adjustment for seniors.
Objective:
- Support legislation for the Consumer Price Index-Elderly (CPI-E) in the computation of the annual Cost of Living Adjustment for seniors.
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