New Law Benefits Veterans Across the Board

In December, I was pleased that Congress passed and the President signed into law S. 3421, a comprehensive bill I authored which improves many benefits and services for those who have worn the uniform.

Under its provisions, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is authorized to proceed with major medical construction projects across the country, improve mental health care access, enhance tele-medicine outreach, increase assistance to address homelessness, improve protections of veterans’ personal information, and more.

While the national issues affecting veterans are extremely important, it is equally important to me that the dollars we appropriate for veterans’ services are translated into efficient and effective services for our veterans in Idaho. To that end, the legislation required that VA establish an Office of Rural Health. This office will ensure that the health care needs of veterans in rural states like Idaho will not be forgotten.

Additionally, the legislation will allow our State Veterans Homes in Pocatello, Boise, and Lewiston to be reimbursed at the same rate for their services as VA nursing homes when treating veterans with severe, service-connected disabilities.

The bill has also enabled VA to create a pilot program that makes non-VA facilities—such as private nursing homes or community hospitals—eligible for State Veterans Home per diem payments. This change will help veterans stay closer to their home, friends, and families.

The new law has also enabled VA to hire more clinicians to treat veterans dealing with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and blindness.

This new law also makes VA educational benefits available to the spouse or child of an injured active duty servicemember who is hospitalized or receiving outpatient medical care. This is an important change now that severely injured troops are being kept on active duty for longer periods while they recuperate.

Veterans Rights to Hire Attorneys Restored

Last year I introduced legislation to overturn an outdated prohibition on veterans hiring attorneys that stemmed from the Civil War era. My legislation passed, and effective June 20 of this year, veterans can now hire an attorney—if they choose— to help them navigate the VA claims processing system. Veterans may still use the free representation from the veterans service organization of their choice. But now, veterans have more options.

New VA Medical Clinics for Idaho

In addition to working to bring changes on the national level, I have worked to improve the lives of veterans in Idaho. For example, I asked VA Secretary Jim Nicholson to conduct an assessment of the needs of veterans in Idaho. As a result, three new Community Based Outpatient Clinics have recently been announced for Idaho—one in Caldwell, one to serve the Coeur d’Alene area, and an expanded medical clinic to serve those in Lewiston and surrounding communities. In addition, veterans in Salmon are now able to receive mental health services via a video link with the Boise VA medical center.

In April, I joined with VA officials to cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the new VA medical clinic in Caldwell.

Honoring Idaho's Fallen Heroes from World War I and II

I was in Europe during the Memorial Day recess with VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, Air Force Chief of Staff Mike Moseley, and Navy Admiral Harry Ulrich, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, to honor American warriors from World Wars I and II buried there:

• In southern France, I spoke to several hundred French and American citizens about the heroic efforts of Harold Senften from Castleford, Idaho. He attended the University of Idaho and while there he joined the ROTC. Harold's plane went down over the Mediterranean, and he was lost at sea in the fight for freedom.
• Not far from Rome, we were joined by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, American Ambassador Ronald Spogli, and hundreds of people who gathered to pay their respects to the 10,956 U.S. troops buried and memorialized there. I told the story of Leonard Penrod of Boise. Frustrated that America initially would not enter the war against Hitler, he joined the Canadian Air Force and later the U.S. Army Air Corps. He, too, died for freedom when he his plane went down over the Mediterranean.
• At a U.S. cemetery in northern Italy, I shared the story of Setsuro Yamashita. He was born near Seattle, but his family was sent to the Japanese relocation center near Burley, Idaho. Despite that injustice, he volunteered to serve and was a member of the famed 442nd Japanese-American combat unit. He gave his life for freedom and is buried near Florence.

Improving Life For the Guard and Reserve

The Veterans Small Business Opportunity Act of 2007 (S. 904) I’ve cosponsored would increase the money available for low-interest loans to eligible small businesses when an essential employee is called to active duty. This would help ensure that small businesses can continue to operate when key staff are serving our country.

I introduced legislation (S. 1293) that would offer Guard and Reserve members some of the same benefits now available to active duty members, including the option of contributing up to $600 in order to receive as much as $5,400 in additional education benefits and the option of receiving an up-front, lump sum payment of education benefits when attending short-term, career-focused technical courses.

It would also allow Guard and Reservists participating in the Reserve Educational Assistance Program to receive maximum benefits after serving three cumulative years on active duty. Current law requires two continuous years. This change in the law is needed because, under a new policy, Guard and Reservists will be involuntarily mobilized for no more than one year at any time, which would make it almost impossible for Reservists to receive maximum benefits.

Expanding the Wounded Warrior Benefit

This year I have authored legislation that will pay between $25,000 to $100,000 to members of the Armed Forces who sustained traumatic injuries outside of the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of combat. When the initial legislation creating the Wounded Warrior insurance program was created, coverage was extended to all who served in the Armed Forces after December of 2005, but retroactive payments were limited to those hurt in Iraq or Afghanistan.

This left without any payment heroes like Seaman Robert Roeder, whose legs were severed in 2005 by an arresting wire on board an aircraft carrier steaming to the Persian Gulf. My legislation, recently approved by the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, would fix this oversight.

Taking Idaho's "Missing in America" Program Nationwide

Sgt. Richard Trueman, a veteran of the Korean War, died in 1979. His wife Martha died a few years later. Sadly, their unclaimed cremated remains sat on a shelf in Idaho for nearly three decades. Fortunately some great Idahoans discovered what happened and provided them with a dignified internment in the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery.

With this effort in mind, I recently introduced legislation (S. 1266) which would encourage other states to develop programs to find and provide a dignified burial to veterans whose remains have gone unclaimed. The Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs voted to approve my legislation and it now awaits action in the full Senate.

New Legislation to Help Veterans With Burns, Traumatic Brain Injuries, and PTSD

The Veterans Housing Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007 (S.1096) I cosponsored would provide up to $50,000 to help servicemembers with severe burn injuries modify their homes to meet their unique needs. The legislation will also provide up to $11,000 for the purchase or modification of an automobile or other vehicle for veterans with extensive burns. The Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs has approved the legislation and it is now awaiting action by the full Senate.

In July Congress passed the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act that contains language I crafted to enable VA to conduct state of the art research into the treatment of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and establish a pilot program for assisted living services for veterans with severe brain trauma. The bill also requires VA to provide age-appropriate nursing home care to veterans with severe TBI—so that young veterans can be treated with people closer to their own age.