Congressman Bob Filner's
Congressional Update

December 2010

In this Issue

• New Miramar National Cemetery Opens Providing Burials for Area Veterans and Family Members

• Calling for a Hearing on TSA Full-Body Scan and Pat Down Security Procedures

• More Than $1 Million Presented to Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo   

• 1,760 Seniors in California’s 51st Congressional District Have Already Received “Donut Hole” Checks As a Result of Health Reform

• Deadline to Submit Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay Claims Approaches

• Supporting our Veterans is a Mandate, Not a Slogan!

• Constituent Mail Bag

• Useful Website: Volunteer San Diego

New Miramar National Cemetery Opens Providing Burials for Area Veterans and Family Members

Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego officially opened last month, providing its first burials of veterans and family members at the new facility.

It was an eventful day for the veterans of San Diego and Imperial Counties. It is reassuring for thousands of the brave men and women who have served our country to know that they will find a final resting place with dignity and honor close to home.

Military honors at the opening ceremony included a rifle salute and the playing of “Taps.”  Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Steve Muro gave remarks and was joined by VA and local officials in the interment of cremated remains.  Casket burial options will be available in early 2011.  

I have worked for years with other members of the San Diego congressional delegation to establish a satellite veterans’ cemetery, an annex to nearby Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery which closed to casket burials in 1966.  Although it stays active with casketed interments of family members of those currently interred and inurnments of cremated remains, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery will soon run out of crematorium niches.

Property at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar was dedicated as the Miramar National Cemetery on January 30, 2010.  When completed, the 313-acre Miramar National Cemetery will offer in-ground gravesites for caskets and cremated remains as well as a columbarium, providing a full range of burial alternatives to approximately 235,000 Veterans in the San Diego County area.  Riverside National Cemetery, located approximately 90 miles from San Diego, was until now the nearest national cemetery offering full burial options.

The first phase of construction will include approximately 11,500 casket gravesites; 4,900 in-ground cremation sites; 10,000 columbarium niches; an administration building and maintenance complex; two committal service shelters; and a public assembly area. The project will also incorporate systems for water distribution, roads, utilities, signs and landscaping.

Calling for a Hearing on TSA Full-Body Scan and Pat Down Security Procedures

I recently called for the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee to hold a hearing to examine the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) security screening procedures at airports, including full-body scans and pat downs.

People need to know that while every precaution is being taken to keep us safe when we fly, that every precaution is also being taken to protect our privacy. We need to restore the people’s confidence that TSA is taking privacy concerns seriously.

I am requesting the committee investigate claims of constitutional violations and produce recommendations for restoring trust between the public and TSA. I am also asking the committee to closely examine if these enhanced procedures are in fact making travel safer.

The public is outraged and that’s understandable - nobody wants to have their privacy invaded. We want to know if these security procedures are necessary.  And if so, are we using the best techniques and technology so that security measures are the least invasive as possible.

More Than $1 Million Presented to Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo 

I had the pleasure of delivering two giant checks to the Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo at a celebration of the opening of their El Centro Women’s Health Care Center.  The Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo received $400,000 for their Brawley Clinic.  The organization also received $773,219, which was awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

This funding will not only help improve health care services, but will also create jobs in our communities.  I was proud to be able to help celebrate the opening of the El Centro Women’s Health Care Center and look forward to continuing to work with Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo to make sure our communities have access to first-rate health care.

I secured the $400,000 in the FY2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law on December 16, 2009.  The $773,219 was awarded under two grants, $41,299 from the Women Infants and Children (WIC) Management Information Systems (MIS) Technology Grant program and $731,920 from the ARRA Increase Services to Health Centers program, by the Department of Health and Human Services.

1,760 Seniors in California’s 51st Congressional District Have Already Received “Donut Hole” Checks As a Result of Health Reform

I announced last month that new data show that 1,760 seniors in the 51st Congressional District of California have so far received the $250 ‘donut hole’ checks, that were provided by the health reform law, to begin to close the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap – as of October 1, 2010.  In total, these seniors in our district have received a total of $440,000 to help pay their high drug costs.

Furthermore, an additional 4,240 seniors in our Congressional District are expected to enter the donut hole before the end of 2010 and will also be receiving a $250 check to help with their drug costs.  As a result, by the end of the year, a total of 6,000 seniors in our district will have received assistance to help cover the cost of their drugs.  The total amount of assistance provided to seniors in the district will be $1.5 million.

This is just a first step in closing the prescription drug donut hole for our seniors. Closing the donut hole for senior’s prescriptions is just one of the real benefits that we will soon see from healthcare reform.

One of the immediate benefits of the health reform legislation signed into law in March is this assistance to seniors with high drug costs.  This year, all seniors who have prescription drug expenses of $2,830 or more – and thereby enter the Medicare Part D ‘donut hole’ coverage gap – are receiving a one-time tax-free $250 rebate check. 

These checks are being mailed out every couple of weeks.  Nationwide, as of October 21, 2010, more than 1.8 million seniors have received the $250 rebate check.  It is estimated that by the end of the year about 4 million seniors will have received the check nationwide.

In addition, under health reform, Part D donut hole benefits will increase beginning in January 2011, when all seniors who hit the donut hole receive a 50% discount on brand-name drugs, saving the average senior entering the donut hole more than $500 annually.  These discounts will save seniors in the district more than $3.2 million next year. 

The benefits to seniors with high drug costs increase on a regular basis under the health reform law.  The discount on brand-name drugs increases to 52.5% in 2013 and to 55% in 2015.  The savings continue to grow until the donut hole is completely eliminated in 2019.

Congressional Republicans created the donut hole – leaving thousands of seniors to choose between buying the prescriptions they need and putting food on the table – and now they promise to try to repeal the reforms that close it.

Deadline to Submit Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay Claims Approaches

I want to make sure all active duty and veterans who were forced to involuntarily extend their service know the deadline to submit a claim for retroactive “Stop Loss” pay is approaching.  All claims must be submitted by December 3, 2010.

Service members and veterans who fell under the Stop Loss policy are due this pay and we want to make sure they know they can collect it if they are eligible.  While Stop Loss will soon be eliminated, the military men and women who were forced to extend their service involuntarily should be compensated for the sacrifices they made beyond what they signed up for.

The 2009 War Supplemental Appropriations Act authorized Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay (RSLSP) of $500 per month/partial month to Service members serving in Stop Loss status.  Service members, veterans, and beneficiaries of Service members whose service was involuntarily extended under Stop Loss between September 11, 2001 and September 30, 2009 are eligible for RSLSP. The average benefit is $3,800.

The Secretary of Defense announced in March 2009 a comprehensive plan to eliminate the current use of Stop Loss by March 2011.  The Army is the only Service currently using Stop Loss (3,198 personnel as of September 2010), and is on a clear path to eliminate the practice by March 2011.

Eligible personnel can go to www.defense.gov/stoploss for more information, or to submit a claim.

Supporting our Veterans is a Mandate, Not a Slogan!

Since declaring independence in 1776, we have asked much of our military.  From defeating the British, to ending World War II, to fighting Taliban forces in Afghanistan, America’s troops have fought valiantly to protect our great nation.  As we paused to observe Veterans Day last month, we remembered the veterans of past and recent wars and turned our thoughts to the uniformed troops engaged in conflicts abroad.  Every soldier, sailor, airman and marine must be welcomed back with all the care and compassion this grateful nation can bestow.  We must rise above political division and stand together to support our veterans.

Failure to keep the promises made to America’s veterans is not an option, yet every vote that Congress has taken for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has failed to take into account the actual cost of these wars.  The Congress that votes to send troops into harm’s way assumes no responsibility for the long-term consequences of their deployment.  Each war authorization and appropriation ignores what will be required to meet the long-term needs of veterans.  Whether or not the needs of our soldiers who are wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan will be met is wholly dependent on a future Congress – and the politics that goes along with creating a new budget.

Veterans, family members, and their advocates have been working together with Congress, economists, and retired military leaders to improve the health care and benefits system for returning service members and veterans from past generations.  We have begun the discussion of the consequences of war, not just in financial terms but in the practical reality of day-to-day needs of our troops when they return home.  Not only do we need to focus on the rising estimates of the cost of veterans’ care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, but we need to know how the government intends to keep the promises made to America’s fighting troops and veterans.  

Four years ago, when I became Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, funding for veterans’ health care was stagnant and the government was not responding to the growing and changing needs of veterans.  In just four years, we increased the VA budget by almost $25 billion, an unprecedented 60 percent increase in the VA budget.  Congress also successfully passed landmark legislation to change the way veterans’ health care is funded by securing advance appropriations for the VA.  No longer is the health care budget subject to political delays, for the first time providing a stable and uninterrupted source of funding for medical care one year in advance. 

Congress also passed sweeping legislation to address the concerns of veterans and their families, including improving treatment for emerging signature war injuries, expanding access for returning combat veterans, and improving access for veterans in rural areas.  Congress has voted significant budget increases to improve the medical care offered to veterans of every generation and passed a landmark Caregivers Bill to support those caring for veterans.  Veterans now have access to a G.I. Bill for the 21st Century, covering the cost of a college education at a public university.  This fall nearly 300,000 veterans are enrolled in college as a result of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, helping veterans fuel the economic recovery much like the veterans of World War II.  Veterans now have better life insurance options, they have access to a modernized VA home loan program, and the VA has begun to respond to the bright light we have shined on the cumbersome veterans’ benefits system.  The Committee has held a dozen hearings this session to monitor innovative pilot programs and examine the best way to produce a system that is up-to-date, accurate, and offers a timely delivery of benefits to veterans. 

Congress addressed the urgent mental health needs of veterans and took tremendous strides to address the troubling reality of post-traumatic stress.  We passed legislation to provide counseling for family members, enhanced screening to address substance abuse, and established a 24-hour hotline for veterans.  We also pressed the VA to address the bureaucracy veterans faced when applying for service-connected compensation for post-traumatic stress.  This year, the VA simplified the process to immediately help combat veterans get the help they need as a result of their military service.  Now, proof of service in uniform in a war zone, combined with a later diagnosis of PTSD, will be all that is required. 

Nearly 2 million troops have been deployed to war zones and more than 5.5 million veterans are currently receiving treatment from the VA, including more than 500,000 veterans of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.  We must prepare to care for the veterans of current conflicts by beginning to address the long-term health care needs of combat veterans.  Veterans have kept their promise to serve our nation – and we must keep our promises to our veterans. 

I will continue to demand that the President provide adequate funding for the warriors – not just the war.  As long as Congress is designed to make it much easier to vote to send our soldiers into harm’s way than it is to care for these soldiers when they come home, we must fight to stay on the path to making the benefits provided to our veterans first-rate and uncompromised.  We must stand together in the task and honor of caring for veterans and their survivors.

Constituent Mail Bag

From Calexico:

Please work to repeal the Bush tax cuts only for the wealthy, and to keep them for the middle class. Please work to bring this to a vote now while Democrats still have a majority in the House. Thank you.

Congressman Filner replies: 

Thank you for contacting me to express your support for letting the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire.

I wholeheartedly agree! As you may know, President Obama's FY 2011 budget proposes $1.7 trillion in tax relief – extending the 2001, 2003 tax cuts for middle-class families, including the child tax credit, reductions in rates, and marriage penalty relief for middle class Americans, while allowing "tax cuts that affect families earning more than $250,000 a year" to expire.  This would mean no tax change for 98% of American families and at least 97% of small businesses. 

And for the wealthiest 2% of Americans with an average income of $800,000 per year, the top marginal tax rate would return to the level at the end of the 1990s, a time of remarkable job growth and economic strength!

I appreciate your advocacy on this important issue!

Useful Website: Volunteer San Diego

Volunteer San Diego is a non-profit organization created to help advertise community service opportunities. Their goal is to help build a strong community through charitable actions. This holiday season, Volunteer San Diego has many opportunities for those seeking a place to help out. If you have any spare time to volunteer this holiday season or in the near future, please visit the website below.

http://www.volunteersandiego.org

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