Veterans

Congresswoman Laura Richardson is committed to leading the fight for our nation's veterans and military families. One in every 10 American cilvillians over the age of 18 are veterans. Since her election in 2007, Congresswoman Richardson has fought to ensure that the voices of our veterans are heard.

Congresswoman Richardson's accomplishments include:

1. Updated the G.I. Bill for the 21st Century

• Since August 2009, the VA has issued Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits to almost 250,000 individuals and $1.2 billion in education benefits have been paid to veteran students.

2. Delivered Budgets Worthy of Our Veterans

• The Democratic Congress added $23 billion for veterans' health care and services. Since 2007, Congress has provided a 60% increase in VA discretionary funding.

3. Secured Advance Appropriations for Veterans Health Care

• Congress successfully secured advance appropriations for the VA, for the first time providing a stable and uninterrupted source of funding for medical care for veterans (P.L. 111-81).

4. Increased Support for Veteran Caregivers

• The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 creates a program to offer caregiver training, access to mental health counseling, and 24-hour respite care in the veteran's home (P.L. 111-163).

5. Improved Health Care Treatment & Access

• The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 provides an additional three years of VA health care eligibility for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans (for a total of five years) and improves and expands the VA's ability to care for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury (P.L. 110-181).

6. Addressed Urgent Mental Health Needs of Veterans

•  The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 addresses the troubling reality of post-traumatic stress and troubling incidents of suicide among the veteran population by requiring a much-needed and long-awaited study on veterans' suicide and requiring the VA to provide counseling referrals for members of the Armed Forces who are not otherwise eligible for readjustment counseling (P.L. 111-163).
• The Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act addresses the troubling increase of suicide in our veteran community. It offers comprehensive services to veterans and established a 24-hour toll-free suicide hotline which has served more than 115,000 veterans, family members, and friends (P.L. 110-110).
• The Veterans' Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008 expands mental health services, increases research through the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and provides much needed counseling for families of veterans. This bill also mandates a program to help rural veterans get the health care they need closer to home (P.L. 110-387).

7. Instituted Reforms to Address the Benefits Backlog

• The Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 provides essential reforms to bring the claims processing system up-to-date for more accurate and timely delivery of benefits to veterans, families, and survivors (P.L. 110-389). The Committee continues to monitor the on-going implementation.

8. Updated VA Home Loan Program

• Sweeping legislation provided veterans with the necessary time to readjust from the battlefield back into their communities without fear of losing their home. The new law prohibits foreclosure for nine months after military service (P.L. 110-298).

9. Improved Care for Women Veterans

• The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 expands and improves VA services for the 1.8 million women veterans, anticipates the expected increase of women warriors over the next five years, and authorizes VA to provide health care for newborn infants of women veterans (P.L. 111-163).

10. Expanded Veteran Homelessness Prevention and Care

• The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 expands the number of places where homeless veterans may receive supportive services. For veterans struggling without a roof over their heads, this small change in the law will make a big difference in their lives (P.L. 111-163).

11. Increased Health Care Access for Rural Veterans

• Congress provided an additional $30 million in funding to increase the number of Community Based Outpatient Clinics for the more than 3.2 million veterans living in rural areas who do not have ready access to VA hospitals (P.L. 111-117).

12. Strengthened Research Efforts at VA

• The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 authorizes the establishment of multi-medical center research corporations by merging single facility nonprofit research corporations and improves accountability of the corporations (P.L. 111-163).

13. Instituted New Cooperative Approaches – Seamless Transition and Continuum of Care

• President Obama ordered the DoD and the VA to work together to define and build a Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic record that will ultimately contain administrative and medical information from the day an individual enters military service throughout their military career, and into the veteran phase of life. The Committee continues to examine the progress being made by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs in ensuring electronic health record interoperability.