"As the newly
appointed Democratic Leader of the
House of Representatives Veterans Affairs'
Committee, I am committed to serving the men and
women who have risked their lives for our freedom.
You can help fellow veterans by being informed and
knowledgeable about the legislation that directly
affects American veterans. I encourage you to
contact your Member of Congress, write letters to
the Editor, call talk radio shows, and be vocal
about your support for veterans legislation."--Bob
***Stolen Veteran's
Information***
I was outraged at
how the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA)
staff handled the May 3rd theft from
the home of a VA employee of the names, dates of
birth, and social security numbers of 26.5
million of our nation’s veterans. The VA waited
over two weeks before notifying the Justice
Department and the FBI--and the victims of the
crime, our nation’s veterans, were not notified
for 19 days. For 19 days, our veterans were
left totally unaware that their personal
information had been compromised.
As you may know,
the FBI has recovered the stolen laptop and the
veterans’ information, and they report that none
of the veterans’ data was copied. But this
situation revealed several past breaches of
security at the VA. A bill to prevent similar
problems in the future and to “make whole” all
veterans who might suffer from id thefts has
been passed by the House of Representatives
Veterans’ Affairs Committee and will soon be
voted on by the full House.
__________________________________________________
The President's
proposed budget for veterans for 2006 is woefully
inadequate. Congressman Filner is working
hard--along with his colleagues on the VA
Committee--to increase this budget for veterans'
services. Bob is deeply upset about the inadequate
amount of funding for veterans' health care in this
veterans appropriations
bill. Furthermore, he is alarmed that the House
Republican leadership did not allow any amendment to
be offered or voted upon that would add funding for
VA medical care to this bill. This is
unconscionable! Our nation's veterans deserve
better.
We will have another chance to improve the veterans'
budget--when the House and Senate get together to
come up with the final version of the Veterans
Appropriations bill. If funding stays at the level
passed by the House, waiting times for health care
services will get longer, currently eligible
veterans may be turned away from services because of
inadequate resources, some VA hospitals may have to
close, and veterans who make over $25,000 a year
will not be allowed to enroll in the VA health care
system. We cannot allow this to happen!
Congressman Filner supports “mandatory” funding for
veterans health care, which means that Congress will
not have to debate the amount of funding each and
every year. Instead, mandatory funding will
automatically increase each year to accommodate
inflation and the increase in enrollment.
Bob is a supporter of the “GI Bill of Rights for the
21st Century”
This is a comprehensive package of legislation to
improve benefits for our men and women in uniform
and for the nation’s military retirees and veterans.
This legislation will bolster support for our troops
in harms way and their families here at home. In
addition, included are special provisions for the
National Guard and Reserves that provide better
education, health care and job training to these men
and women whose service has been above the call of
duty.
This “GI Bill of Rights” also ends the Disabled
Veterans’ Tax and provides concurrent receipt of
military retired pay and VA compensation to all
eligible disabled retirees. Democrats tried to offer
this as an amendment to the Defense Authorization
Bill, but consideration was blocked by the
Republicans.
Bob has received several awards for his work for
veterans.
In August 2001, the Air Force Sergeants Association
presented Congressman Filner with the prestigious L.
Mendel Rivers Award of Excellence for his work on
behalf of veterans. Previous winners include former
Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee,
Sonny Montgomery, for whom the Montgomery GI Bill is
named. Other awards have been presented to Bob by
the Paralyzed Veterans Association, the Retired
Enlisted Association, the American Legion, the
Jewish War Veterans, the National Gulf War Resource
Center, and the American Gold Star Mothers.
Bob is the sponsor of bills to improve the lives of
veterans.
Congressman Filner’s legislation, passed by
Congress, will provide dental services to all
ex-Prisoners of War, improve insurance for veterans,
increase the amount of the VA home loan, and improve
recruitment and retention of VA dentists by
increasing their pay. His bill to eliminate the
Military Widows’ Tax by removing the Social Security
offset to the Survivors Benefit Plan (SBP) for
military widows was passed last year. While he
strongly supported the bill which passed that
partially eliminates the Disabled Veterans Tax and
allows concurrent receipt of VA compensation and
military retired pay for disabled military retirees,
he has introduced legislation to finish the job—and
pay concurrent receipt to all eligible veterans (H.R
2368). His amendment to allow a study of
space-available travel on military aircraft for many
disabled veterans and their families has been
included in the Defense Authorization bill, recently
passed by the House of Representatives.
He has introduced bills to give Purple Heart
recognition to POWs who died of causes other than
wounds while in captivity (H.R.2369).
Additionally, he has attempted to give
recognition and a medal to veterans who died from
causes related to their service in Vietnam but who
are not eligible for inclusion on The Wall at the
Vietnam Memorial in the nation’s capital (H.R. 2370).
Bob has also made strides to provide benefits to World War II Merchant
Mariners to compensate them for exclusion from the GI Bill for over forty years (H.R. 23). Other
Filner bills would provide veterans with direct
access to chiropractic care at the VA (H.R. 917),
provide disabled veterans with access to
commissaries (H.R. 1188), and extend the time period
when veterans can use their Montgomery GI Bill
educational benefits (H,R. 2365).
Congressman Filner introduced an amendment to the
recent Iraq Supplemental bill that would give
preference to veterans for contracts for the
rebuilding of Iraq. He called for a GAO
investigation of the health effects of exposure to
depleted uranium in military personnel and veterans.
He has introduced a bill (H.R. 2962) with
Congressman Abercrombie to eliminate “dose
reconstruction”, a timely and misleading process,
that is currently required to determine compensation
for Atomic Veterans.
Bob has also worked, along with the other members of
the San Diego Delegation, to establish an annex to
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Representatives
from the Navy Department and the VA Department
recently announced that they have reached an
agreement that will provide space at MCAS Miramar
for additional local burials. The new site will
provide approximately 200,000 gravesites, with the
first phase opening in 2006.
Veterans History
Project
|
Take part in the
Veterans History Project,
an initiative of the Library of Congress and its
American Folklife Center! The Veterans History
Project honors veterans for their service, by
collecting their stories and experiences. The
Veterans History Project web page provides
information about how you can take part in this
important effort.
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BOB'S
STATEMENTS ON VETERANS!
Fighting for
WWII Merchant Marines
-
September, 13, 2005
Increase the funding for Veterans Budget - June
29, 2005
Ensuring the well-being of Veterans - June 28,
2005
Keeping the Promise to Disabled Veterans - June
7, 2005
Appropriations Woefully Inadequate for Veterans
- May 26, 2005
Support the Service Members Health Insurance
Protection Act - May 23, 2005
Honoring Our Wounded and Fallen Heroes - May 16,
2005
Military Retirees Are Waiting - May 16, 2005
Phone Cards for the Troops - May 16, 2005
Leading the Charge for the Nation's Veterans -
April 12, 2005
Hire Veterans First - March 16, 2005
Continuing the Fight for the Nation's Veterans -
March 15, 2005
Filner Demands $3.1 Billion for Veteran's Healthcare
- March 15, 2005
Equity to Filipino WWII Veterans - February 2,
2005
Justice for Merchant Marines - January 4, 2005
LINKS
American Legion
Disabled American Veterans
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Military Order of the Purple Heart
Vietnam
Veterans of America
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VETERANS
FILIPINO
VETERANS
TRANSPORTATION
THE
BORDER
HOMELAND
SECURITY
JOBS
TRAIN
JOBS
& ECONOMY
HEALTH
& MEDICARE
ENERGY
ENVIRONMENT
SOCIAL
SECURITY
EDUCATION
WOMEN
& CHILDREN
CIVIL/HUMAN
RIGHTS
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